Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and brother Ashraf were shot dead by three men in full view of media cameras in UP’s Prayagraj on Saturday night. Former MP Atiq Ahmed had grabbed national headlines in the last month after the broad daylight shooting of Umesh Pal in February this year. Atiq, who was in a high-security Gujarat prison since 2019, was brought back to Uttar Pradesh for a court hearing. Umesh Pal was the prime witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case where Atiq Ahmed was also among the accused.
Key facts about sensational murder
Atiq Ahmed had been remanded in police custody in the Umesh Pal murder case. The former MP and his brother were being escorted by police personnel for a medical checkup to the hospital when the shooters killed them. The shoot out occurred around 10 pm on Saturday night.
As per TV reports, the entire shooting lasted just 6 minutes and 22 rounds were fired. There is no official police confirmation on this. The three shooters were posing as media persons. One of them held a mic and had an ID card.
Atiq and Ashraf were interacting with the media when the three shooters opened fire. The incident was in full view of TV cameras and the chaos and killing were sensationally captured and widely circulated on TV and social media.
Before his death, Atiq’s last words were heard in the video, “Nahi le gaye to nahi gaye (they did not take us, so we did not go).” He was replying to a journalist’s question on what he had to say on not being allowed to attend his son Asad’s funeral. Asad Ahmed was killed in a police encounter along with an aide in Jhansi just two days before Atiq’s death.
It was Atiq’s brother Ashraf who spoke the last words on camera before gunfire took over. “Main baat ye hai ki Guddu Muslim.... (the thing is that Guddu Muslim...),” Ashraf was recorded as saying. Both Atiq and Ahraf were in handcuffs.
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The shooters threw the firearms on the ground and surrendered shortly after the murders. They were arrested and were being questioned by the police. They have been identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny. However, police is yet to release more details about the shooters.
The bodies of Atiq and Ahraf, riddled with bullets, were taken away from the spot as the area was gripped by tension after the killings. A media person suffered an injury due to falling while a police constable suffered an injury to his arm.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting shortly after the killings and ordered a probe by a three-member judicial panel into the former MP’s murder. Meanwhile, Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed across all districts of UP in the aftermath of the incident.
(Inputs from agencies)
