Atiq interred near son Asad; wife Shaista doesn't turn up

Atiq Ahmed, arrested and convicted in the Umesh Pal murder case, had claimed that he faced an "open, direct, and immediate threat" to his life from Uttar Pradesh state functionaries, and had urged the court to instruct the central government to ensure his and his family's safety and security.

Prayagraj:Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyard in Prayagraj on Sunday evening. The bodies of Ahmed and Ashraf were taken to the Kasari Masari graveyard in an ambulance where the burial process took place.

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 here 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 (SP) MP) Ahmad 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. Ahmad'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. Media was not allowed inside the graveyard, where lighting arrangements were made for the burial proceedings.

Ahmad'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 Ahmad'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 Ahmad and was absconding since Umesh Pal's killing on February 24. Hours after Asad was interred, Ahmad (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 Ahmad'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.