Atiq Ahmed, brother Ashraf buried in Prayagraj amid tight security

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were buried in their ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj district amid tight security on Sunday.

The bodies of the brothers, which were handed over to the family members after conducting the post-mortem examination, were brought to the Kasari Masari graveyard for performing the last rites at about 6.30 pm and it took about two hours to conclude the rituals.

The bodies of former Samajwadi Party MP Ahmed and Ashraf, who were gunned down by three assailants posing as journalists in Prayagraj on Saturday night, were taken to the graveyard in ambulances.

Some women members of the family wearing hijab were seen going inside the burial ground. The names of those allowed to be present on the occasion were noted in a register and they were permitted entry only after their identity was verified.

Ahmed's wife Shaista Praveen, an absconding accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, did not turn up for her husband's burial.

Senior officials of the administration and police were present at the graveyard and tight security was put in place. Rapid action force personnel were also deployed to maintain law and order in the area.

Mediapersons were not allowed inside the graveyard, where lighting arrangements were made for the burial proceedings.

Ahmed's son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case who fell to police bullets, was buried at the same graveyard on Saturday.

The graveyard is located in Ahmed's ancestral village and his parents were also laid to rest there.

Only a few distant relatives of the deceased brothers and locals were present inside the burial ground.

Asad was the third of the five sons of Ahmed and was absconding since Umesh Pal's killing on February 24.

Hours after Asad was interred, Ahmed (60) and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college here for a checkup.

Among Ahmed's other sons, the eldest, Umar, is lodged in a Lucknow jail, while the second son, Ali, is lodged in the Naini Central Jail in separate cases.

The fourth son, Ahjam, and the youngest of the five, Aban, are housed in a juvenile home here.

According to officials, Ahmed and Ashraf had a long criminal history.

Since 1979, 101 cases were registered against Ahmed, while 57 were lodged against Ashraf.

The first murder case against Ahmed was lodged in 1979, when he was 17 years of age. By 1985, Ahmed's terror had spread not only in Prayagraj, but to other parts of Uttar Pradesh as well.