Hyderabad: Is it a sheer coincidence or a planned shoot-out, it will be revealed only after a thorough probe. But, what Umesh Pal's wife had said 48 years before the shootout of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed came true. It is straight out of a Bollywood action movie as three men in disguise as journalists shot dead Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in full media glare and under the nose of the police.
"Shooters were posing as journalists as Atiq reached for a check-up, they were surrounded by other journalists and got close to Atiq and his brother. One was having a camera and was posing as a cameraman. While one was roaming with a mike where it was written NCR News. Third was assisting both," a police source said. "As Atiq reached the hospital, reporters started questioning them after two lines, one guy fired on his head from very close range and Atiq fell. Another two guys also threw the camera and mike and started firing," the source added.
All three assailants were arrested, informed police after Atiq and his brother were shot dead. "Three people have been arrested and they are being questioned. A journalist was also injured as he fell and a constable sustained a bullet injury," Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said. The Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday said that the shooters, who killed Atiq and Ashraf, were posing as Journalists at the spot of the incident.
It may be recalled that reacting to Asad’s encounter Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya Pal thanked the Yogi government for taking action against the mafia. She also demanded that Atiq Ahmed meet the same fate as her husband Umesh Pal did. The deceased gangster-turned-politician Atiq had more than 100 cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh. Meanwhile, his brother Ashraf Ahmed had more than 57 cases registered against him in the state.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set up a three-member judicial inquiry and ordered a high-level probe into the incident. The Uttar Pradesh government also imposed Section 144 to maintain the law and order in the state after the shoot-out. "We wanted to kill gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf to become popular," said the three shooters involved in the killing of Atiq-Ashraf in Prayagraj on Saturday, to police during interrogation, as mentioned in the FIR. Atiq Ahmed's son Asad and his aide Ghulam, who were wanted in advocate Umesh Pal's murder case, were killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh police on April 13.
