High-Profile Killings: Atiq Ahmed, Brother Shot Dead by Posing Reporters

High-Profile Killings: Atiq Ahmed, Brother Shot Dead by Posing Reporters

Three attackers shot and killed Atiq Ahmed, a former criminal who is now a politician, and his brother Khalid Azim, also known as Ashraf, on Saturday in Prayagraj. the evening of April 15, while being taken by over a dozen police officers for a standard medical examination. A few hours after his son Asad Ahmed’s death rites, the 62-year-old former Samajwadi Party MP was assassinated during a police confrontation in Jhansi two days prior.

The Prayagraj shooting incident transpired at approximately 10:30 p.m. and was documented on live television as reporters trailed the detained pair as they were transported to Calvin Hospital.

According to Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma, the attackers arrived on motorbikes and pretended to be members of the media. Under the guise of filming a news snippet, they managed to approach the pair and open fire. Later that night, physicians pronounced Mr. Ahmed and his brother dead after they were shot in the head.

Three suspected attackers—Navin Tiwari, Arun Maurya, and Sonu—were immediately taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh police, who also confiscated three guns. When one of the accused attackers was being taken into custody by the police, he yelled the phrase “Jai Shri Ram.”

Within police custody

On April 13, Mr. Ahmed and his brother, a former MLA, were placed under arrest by the police in relation to the February 24 murder of Umesh Pal, who served as a crucial witness in the 2005 killing of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal. The brothers were detained by the investigators at the Dhoomanganj police station.

In order to preserve law and order in the city, the police in the Prayagraj suburbs of Chakiya, Kareli, and Dhoomanganj have invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which forbids gatherings of more than four people. Prashant Kumar, Special Director General (Law and Order), went to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s house to inform him about the event.

Late last night, the Director General of Police (DGP) U.P., Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, and other top State officials convened at the Chief Minister’s residence for a high-level discussion. Additionally, the Home Department notified all State-wide senior authorities at the district and divisional levels.

There’s a growing sense of lawlessness among criminals

The leader of the opposition, Akhilesh Yadav, said that crime in the state had peaked, criticizing the State government. He tweeted in Hindi, “Crime has peaked in U.P. and the criminals’ morale is high.” “What about the public’s safety when someone can be killed by open shooting in the middle of the police perimeter? As a result, panic is spreading among the populace, and it appears that certain individuals are doing it on purpose, he continued.

According to the BSP, such an occurrence could not have occurred without “top-down” clearance. “Cold blooded murder of Ateeq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf is the height of anarchy in Uttar Pradesh!” tweeted BSP Lok Sabha MP Kunwar Danish Ali. Without approval from the top, this cannot take place. For committing such a horrific act of lawlessness, the state administration would have been overthrown in any other democracy.

In the State Assembly on February 25, Mr. Adityanath declared, “Mafia ko mitti mei mila denge (we will destroy the criminals).” He was answering Mr. Yadav’s claim that Umesh Pal’s murder represented the breakdown of law and order in the State.

Former criminal turned politician

In the late 1980s, Mr. Ahmed was one of the first politicians from Uttar Pradesh to be charged under the Gangster Act, and he was the target of over 100 criminal proceedings. In 1989, he ran as an independent and won a seat in the Vidhan Sabha from the Allahabad West constituency. Between 1989 to 2004, he held the seat for an unprecedented four terms before being elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from the Phulpur constituency, which Jawaharlal Nehru had previously represented.

Mr. Ahmed had used his political influence to create a syndicate that was active in the real estate market in the 1990s, a time when the State saw three instances of President’s Rule and no Chief Minister finishing their term in office. The syndicate was founded in the midst of accusations of forced property acquisition in Allahabad and other crimes.

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