Atiq Ahmad and his brother were shot dead at point-blank range
Lucknow:Following the sensational killings of Uttar Pradesh gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf in full public display on Saturday night, the situation in the state remains tense and police have intensified patrolling and tightened security across the state. A barrage of reactions from political bigwigs has come after the killings that happened on camera and in police presence and will go down as one of the most shocking on-camera shootouts in recent Indian history.
Here are the top updates in this big story so far:
- A court in Prayagraj Sunday sent the three assailants who killed Atiq Ahmad and his brother to 14 days' judicial custody. Lavlesh Tiwari (a resident of Banda), Mohit alias Sunny (Hamirpur) and Arun Maurya (Kasganj) have been booked under sections 302 (punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC, Arms Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act. The three have revealed that they wanted to kill Atiq and his brother to become popular. Hence they hatched their plan to murder him when they got to know that they are in police custody.
- The last rites of Atiq and his brother took place on Sunday evening as their bodies were handed over to the family members after post-mortem. The bodies were taken to the Kasari Masari graveyard in an ambulance. Atiq'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.
- Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) have been issued in all districts of Uttar Pradesh to prevent any untoward incident. Internet services remain shut in Prayagraj district as part of the security measures. The two brothers were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while policemen were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup.
- UP CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered a high-level probe into the sensational killings. "The chief minister has constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Ahmad and Ashraf," Special DG, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said. High Court judge (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi will head the commission that includes former dist court judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and ex-DGP Subesh Kumar Singh.
- West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed shock at what she termed as collapse of law and order in UP. "I am shocked by the brazen anarchy and total collapse of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. It is shameful that criminals are now taking the law into their own hands, unfazed by the police and media presence," Banerjee tweeted.
- AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the killings as well as urged for a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter. The BJP was running the government in UP by "rule by gun" and not rule of law, Owaisi said.
- Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there are courts to ensure that criminals get the harshest punishment, but "playing with law and order only gives birth to anarchy". In a series of tweets in Hindi, Kharge said the Constitution of the country has been made by those people who fought for freedom and this Constitution and law is paramount.
- TMC MP Mouha Moitra said the country has been turned into "mafia raj". "BJP has turned India into a mafia republic. I will say it here, I will say it abroad, I will say it everywhere because it is the truth. 2 men in custody shot dead in front of a zillion policemen & cameras - this is the death of the rule of law," she said.
- "Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high. When someone can be killed openly despite being surrounded by a security cordon, one can imagine the state of the general public. Due to this (alleged encounter killings), an ambience of fear is being created among the public. It seems that some people are deliberately creating such an ambience," tweeted former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
- Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot too voiced concern over the killing. "The country is watching what is happening in Uttar Pradesh. Such incidents can happen with anyone if there is no rule of law. To kill a person in full public glare is very easy but maintaining law and order in the state is difficult," he added. Gehlot, however, warned mafia and gangsters active in his state that their fates could also be the same as the slain UP ganglord.