Slain former Member of Parliament (MP) Atiq Ahmed’s letter with instructions to send it to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and the Chief Justice of India in case of his death is being dispatched to them, Atiq’s lawyer said on Tuesday, reports news agency PTI.
“That letter in a sealed envelope is neither with me nor sent by me. It is kept somewhere else and being sent by some other person. I don’t know the contents of the letter,” said his lawyer Vijay Mishra.
The lawyer said to the news agency that Atiq had said that “if there were any mishap or if he was murdered, the letter in the sealed envelope should be sent to the Chief Justice of India and Uttar Pradesh chief minister”.
Atiq Ahmed, Ashraf killed live on camera by 3 shooters
The former Samajwadi Party leader Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot at point-blank range on Saturday night in the presence of police and mediapersons. They surrended following the shooting.
All the three assailants – Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj – had disguised as journalists. An FIR was registered at Shahganj police station under sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC and provisions of the Arms Act.
They are presently in 14-day judicial custody, and were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Prison to a Pratapgarh jail on Monday.
Atiq and Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareilly prisons for interrogation in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, who was a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder, and his two police security guards in February this year. The killings came after Atiq’s son was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13.
SITs formed to probe Atiq Ahmed killing
The state has formed two Special Investigation Teams (SIT) to probe the murder of Atiq and his brother. Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma, in a statement on Sunday, said, the SIT will be headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Crime, Satish Chandra, while its other two members are Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kotwali police station) Satyendra Prasad Tiwari and Inspector, Investigation Cell of Crime Branch, Om Prakash.
In another statement, Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police R K Vishwakarma said a three-member team of supervisors has also been formed to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action. This team is headed by the additional director general of police of Prayagraj zone. The other two members are the police commissioner of Prayagraj and the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow, the DGP said.
On Sunday, a three-member judicial commission was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to look into the Ahmad’s murder which will submit its report within two months. The commission is headed by Justice (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi. Former director general of police Subesh Kumar Singh and former district judge Brijesh Kumar Soni are its members.