Atiq Ahmed, Ashraf killed on camera: Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, accused in the 2005 BSP MLA and lawyer Raju Pal murder case of February, were shot in police custody by three men in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj (earlier Allahabad) on Saturday night, live on camera in the presence of mediapersons.
Their murder came barely two days after Atiq’s son, 19-year-old son Asad, and his aide Ghulam were killed in a police encounter in Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi on April 13.
All three accused below 23 years
The three assailants, one of whom chanted “Jai Shri Ram” slogans after the killings, were identified as Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Arun Kumar Maurya (18) and 23-year-old Mohit alias Sunny Singh, hailing from Banda, Kasganj and Hameerpur in Uttar Pradesh, respectively. Seconds after the firing, all of them surrendered before police.
Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma later said the gunmen came there in the garb of mediapersons. They joined the group of reporters who were trying to get bites from Atiq and his brother. The accused then suddenly dropped their camera and whipped out the arms.
The trio has been booked under IPC sections related to murder, attempt to murder, and sections of the Arms Act and Criminal Law (Amendment) Act. They have been sent to judicial custody till April 29.
‘Wanted to become famous’: Police FIR
The FIR stated, “On being asked about the reason for the killing, all three accused said we wanted to finish the gang of Atiq and Ashraf and become famous because this would benefit us in the future.”
“Since the time we got to know about the police custody of Atiq and Ashraf, we were planning to murder them. So we posed as journalists and when we got the right opportunity, we pulled the trigger and implemented the plan,” one of the accused told police, as quoted by The Times of India.
‘Jobless, drug addict’: One of Atiq Ahmed’s murder accused
Lavlesh’s father Yagya Tiwari told the media that his son is “jobless and a drug addict”.
Yagya told news agency ANI, “We saw the incident on TV. We are not aware of the actions of Lavlesh nor do we have anything to do with this. He never lived here and neither was he involved in our family affairs. He did not tell us anything. He came here five to six days ago. We have not been on talking terms with him for years. There is already a case registered against him. He was jailed in that case.”
Speaking on anonymity, a Banda resident and neighbour of Lavlesh, told mediapersons that Lavlesh has earlier also gone to jail and had ambitions to make a name in the world of crime.
Meanwhile, Sunny’s brother Pintu also told the news agency that the family had no idea about the incident.
“Sunny used to wander around and did no work. We live separately and don’t know how he became a criminal,” he said.
Arun Maurya’s neighbours expressed shock over the incident and said that his parents are dead. Two of his brothers are in the scrap business in Delhi. They added that no one knew about Maurya’s whereabouts, and had reportedly left the village about a decade ago, as per a ToI report.