Atiq Ahmed, brother Ashraf shot dead in Prayagraj; 3 held

In a dramatic turn of events, jailed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by unidentified assailants while they were being escorted by police to a medical college here on Saturday night.

The shooting that occurred around 10 pm was caught on camera as mediapersons were following the handcuffed duo, who were being taken to the hospital by police for a medical checkup.

A senior police officer said three people have been arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred just two days after Ahmed's son Asad was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi. Asad's last rites were performed here earlier in the day.

At least three people, who posed as mediapersons, were seen firing from a close range at Ahmed (60) and Ashraf, who fell to the ground. Police soon overpowered the assailants.

One of the assailants was even carrying a mic along with an ID.

As journalists questioned Ahmed about his questioning in the police custody, he said: "Main baat yeh hai ki Guddu Muslim (Actually, Guddu Muslim) " and was shot dead in the head, even before he could finish what he was saying.

One of the journalists who was present on the spot said: "The assailants shouted 'surrender, surrender' and threw their firearms on the ground."

The bullet-riddled bodies of Ahmed and Ashraf were taken away from the spot as tension gripped the area after the sensational killings.

"We are looking into the incident. It is too early to say anything. We are yet to question the arrested men," a police officer said.

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."

Ahmed, 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 to police custody.

Ahmed's son Asad and one of the latter's accomplices were killed in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13.

The last rites for Asad were performed at the Kasari Masari graveyard in Lucknow on Saturday amid heavy police security, with only a few distant relatives and locals present inside the burial ground.

Asked by reporters to comment on Asad's death, his uncle Ashraf said, "Allah has taken back what belonged to him."

Incidentally, Ahmed and Ashraf were being questioned by the Uttar Pradesh Police at the Dhoomanganj police station, around 3 km from the burial venue.

Earlier this year, 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 Ahmed, Ashraf, Ahmed's wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

A police team from Uttar Pradesh brought Ahmed to Prayagraj on March 26 to produce him in court in connection with the kidnapping of Umesh Pal in 2006.

Ahmed had moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family have been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case and that he might be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The apex court rejected his plea on 28 March.

In 2006, Ahmed and his aides had 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.

On March 28, the court sentenced Ahmed and two others to life imprisonment in this kidnapping case.

Until this recent shift to Prayagraj, Ahmed had been lodged in the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat's Ahmedabad since 2019.

In April 2019, the Supreme Court had directed that Ahmed 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.

Ahmed had been named in more than 100 criminal cases besides the Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

Among the most sensational murders in which Ahmed was allegedly involved was that of Raju Pal, then BSP MLA, who was shot dead in 2005.