On the killing of Uttar Pradesh gangster and former Member of Parliament Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said it was “sad and unfortunate that someone in custody and in jail comes out and [is] killed like this”. Mr. Kumar added that “eliminating crime does not mean killing criminals”.
“The incident appeared scripted and done for cheap publicity,” his deputy in the State Cabinet, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav said.
Editorial | Murder of law and order: On the Atiq Ahmed case in Uttar Pradesh
The BJP hit back at them.
The Bihar CM referred to the incident a failure of law and order (in Uttar Pradesh) while speaking to media persons in Patna.
“It is sad, unfortunate that anyone serving jail sentence is killed in police custody while being taken outside. I don’t have anything to say if anyone is awarded sentence or kept in jail as this is decided by the courts. But even if one is in jail, there should not be a murder like this. The police should have seen it. We also send prisoners for production or medical examination [in Bihar]. The State government should see why such incidents have taken place. Killing the criminals is never a solution. Eliminating crime does not mean killing criminals,” Mr. Kumar said.
Days after his son Asad, accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an alleged police encounter in Jhansi, Ahmed, a five-time MLA and one time MP, was killed along with brother Ashraf while in police custody inside a hospital premises in Prayagraj on the night of April 15. Their murder has stirred controversy. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has constituted a three-member judicial committee to probe the incident and submit a report.
Mr. Yadav too condemned Ahmed’s killing, calling it “scripted”. “What happened in U.P. was not a funeral procession of Atiq Ahmed but of law,” the Bihar Deputy Chief Minister said, speaking to media persons.
The Opposition BJP in Bihar reacted sharply to their comments.
“Appeasement policy cannot do any good to society. Crime needs to be dealt with sternly and police should have the freedom to act against criminals. In U.P., a judicial commission has already been constituted as a gangster was killed by anti-socials while being taken for medical check-up. Once the report comes, action will follow without any delay,” State BJP president Samrat Choudhary said.
“Nitish Kumar should introspect and analyse what he has done to Bihar by pushing the State towards utter lawlessness,” the Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP, said.
