A three-member judicial commission will investigate the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf.
Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead on Saturday night in Prayagraj as they were being taken to a medical college for a check-up. The two were shot at point-blank range and the killing happened on live television as journalists were recording the two at the time during media interaction.
Following the killing, the UP government imposed prohibitory orders across the entire state. Three shooters, who could be seen repeatedly shooting at Atiq and Ashraf in the video, were arrested soon after the killing.
Atiq and Ashraf were killed just a day after Atiq's son Ashraf was killed in an encounter by UP Police in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
What we know of Atiq and Ashraf's killing?
Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men on Saturday night near a medical college in UP's Prayagraj.
The three men were posing as journalists and the killing occured in the middle of a media interaction. The incident was captured live on media footage. The footage shows the attackers emerging suddenly into the frame and firing at point-blank range at Atiq and Ashraf.
Briefing reporters about the incident, Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said the three assailants were arrested immediately after the incident. He added that they had joined the group of mediapersons who were trying to get sound bites from Atiq and Ashraf.
"In accordance with a mandatory legal requirement, Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were brought to the hospital for a medical examination. According to preliminary information, three men posing as journalists approached them and opened fire. Ahmad and Ashraf were killed in the attack. The attackers have been held and are being questioned," Sharma said.
Police constable Man Singh was injured in the incident as a bullet hit his arm, said Sharma, adding that a journalist was also hurt after he fell during the commotion that followed the shooting.
Video footage showed a man thrusting a gun at Ahmad's head as he talks to reporters and the former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP collapsing. The footage also showed the three assailants firing at the brothers even after they had fallen.
The bullet-riddled bodies were taken away from the spot as tension gripped the area after the sensational killings.
Judicial Commission to probe killing
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday ordered a high-level probe into the sensational killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf in Prayagraj, officials said.
Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been issued in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to maintain law and order, according to officials.
"The chief minister has constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Ahmad and Ashraf," Special DG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said, adding that the three assailants were arrested from the spot and a detailed probe is on in the matter.
After the Prayagraj incident, the chief minister convened a high-level meeting in Lucknow and ordered the probe, Kumar said.
Prohibitory orders have been issued in all districts of the state," Director Informaton Shishir said.
Reactions to the killing
While the Opposition in Uttar Pradesh took the killing as a sign of poor state of law and order under the Yogi Adityanath government, the supporters of Adityanath and government reacted on social media with appreciation.
Reacting to the incident, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi: "Crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and the criminals are unfazed. When someone can be shot dead amidst a police cordon, then what about the safety of the general public? An atmosphere of fear is being created among the public due to this and it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere."
BJP minister Swatantra Dev Singh tweeted in Hindi: "Sins and good deeds are evaluated in this life only."
The tweet was an apparent reference to Atiq and his criminal activities. He was recently convicted in a case and was given life imprisonment.
Brief history of Atiq Ahmad
Ahmad, a former SP MP, and his brother were brought here for a court hearing in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case and were remanded in police custody.
Ahmad's son Asad and one of his accomplices were killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13.
The last rites of Asad were performed at the Kasari Masari graveyard here on Saturday amid heavy police security, with only a few distant relatives and locals present inside the burial ground.
Incidentally, Ahmad and Ashraf were being questioned by the Uttar Pradesh Police at the Dhoomanganj police station, around 3 km from the burial venue.
Asked by reporters to comment on Asad's death, his uncle Ashraf said, "Allah has taken back what belonged to him."
Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his Dhoomanganj residence here on February 24.
Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered on February 25 against Ahmad, Ashraf, Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.
A police team from Uttar Pradesh brought Ahmad, who was lodged in the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, to Prayagraj on March 26 to produce him in a court in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case.
On March 28, the court sentenced Ahmad and two others to life imprisonment in the kidnapping case.
In 2006, Ahmad and his aides abducted Umesh Pal and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Umesh Pal had got a complaint registered in this regard.
The Supreme Court had in April 2019 directed that Ahmad be shifted to a high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of Lucknow-based real-estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in jail.
Ahmad was named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the Umesh Pal murder case, police said.
Among the most sensational murders in which Ahmad was allegedly involved was that of Raju Pal, the then BSP MLA who was shot dead in 2005.
Ahmad moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family have been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
(With PTI inputs)
