New Delhi, April 16: (Agencies)
Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead live on camera while being taken for a medical check-up in Prayagraj on Saturday.
What we know so far:
- Atiq and his brother were talking to the media when they were killed near Dhoomanganj police station around 10 pm.
- Two-three people reportedly opened fire on the duo.
- The gunmen were allegedly posing as media persons and shot at the brothers due at close range.
- All the gunmen have been taken into custody and the weapons have also been recovered, according to some local media reports.
- The suspects have been identified as Luvlesh Tiwari, Sunny and Arun Maurya. They are under police custody and are being interrogated, said media reports.
- The bodies of Atiq and his brother have been sent to SRN hospital.
- The police said a motorcycle allegedly used by the gunmen has also been recovered.
- Senior police officials including Special DG (law and order) Prashant Kumar summoned CM Yogi Adityanath's office.
- A forensic team has reached the shooting spot. DM Sanjay Kumar Khatri and CP Ramit Sharma have also reached the spot.
- One media person was also injured in the incident.
- Senior officials said that chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a judicial commission will be formed to conduct a probe into the incident.
- Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma said Atiq and his brother Ashraf were brought for medical tests and while giving media byte, three people, disguised as media persons, shot them. “Three people have been arrested, they are being questioned. A journalist was injured from a fall and a constable sustained a bullet injury.”
- Atiq and Ashraf had started to talk to the media, when the two were attacked and shot, and the incident was caught live on news cameras. As the two fell after being hit, sounds of indiscriminate shooting could be heard.
- Earlier on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police questioned Atiq and Ashraf at the Dhoomanganj police station.
- Atiq Ahmed has been accused in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case of 2015 as well as the Umesh Pal murder case, which occurred in February this year.
- They carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on their heads, and foreign-made weapons were recovered from them. Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed had been brought to the CJM court in Prayagraj on the same day Asad was killed in the encounter.
- A high alert has been issued and Section 144 has been imposed across the state.
Reacting to the shooting, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said the crime had reached its peak in UP and the “morale of the criminals is high”
“What about the safety of the general public when some are shot dead amidst the security cordon of the police personnel” Due to this, an atmosphere of fear is being created among the public, it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere, said Yadav.
The deaths come just days after Atiq's son Asad and his accomplice Ghulam- both wanted in the broad day-light murder of Umesh Pal – were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police near Jhansi on April 13. Asad was the third of the five sons of Atiqe Ahmad and was absconding since the Umesh Pal murder case,
The last rites of Asad were performed at Kasari Masari graveyard on Saturday amid heavy police security, with only a few distant relatives and locals present inside the burial ground.
