The Prayaraj Police have constituted a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to probe the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim aka Ashraf inside a hospital complex on April 15. The SIT will be led by Prayagraj Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Satish Chandra.
A separate three-member team of supervisors has also been formed by Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) R.K. Vishwakarma to ensure time-bound action in the murder case, which will be headed by the Additional Director General (Prayagraj Zone).
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The SIT is expected to soon take custody of the three assailants, identified as Arun Maurya (18), Lavlesh Tiwari (22) and Mohit aka Sunny Singh (23), who in the guise of mediapersons had gained access and gunned down the former MP and his brother.
While Internet services remained suspended and security personnel were deployed in the sensitive areas, life in most parts of Prayagraj was back to normal on April 17.
A scene outside Allahabad High court, as life seems to be getting back to normal in Prayagraj on Monday, after a near shutdown following the killing of Atiq Ahmed and brother Ashraf late on Saturday. | Photo Credit: V.V. Krishnan
The police on April 17 submitted before a Prayagraj court the sequence of the events leading up to the killings while the two were in their custody. The police remand of Atiq and Khalid in the Umesh Pal murder case was getting over and they were to be produced before the court for further proceedings.
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On April 16, the police had produced the three assailants before a Magistrate who sent them to judicial custody. They were kept at Naini Jail and then shifted to another jail in neighbouring Pratapgarh.
The decision to transfer the trio was taken by the authorities apparently because one of Atiq’s sons, Ali, is currently lodged in Naini Jail. Another son, Umar, is in a Lucknow prison.
The two other minor sons of Atiq have been kept at a juvenile centre. They, along with their relatives, attended the burial services of their father and uncle at a Kasari Masari graveyard in Prayagraj late evening on April 16.
Earlier, the State government set up a judicial commission chaired by Allahabad High Court judge Justice (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi to submit a report within two months in connection with the murders. The other two members are retired judge Brijesh Kumar Soni and former DGP Subesh Kumar Singh.
According to the police, the shooting took place at 10.35 p.m. on April 15 when Atiq and Khalid were taken from the Dhoomanganj police station to the Moti Lal Nehru Mandaliya Chikitsalaya for a routine medical test. They entered the premises when some mediapersons attempted to take Atiq’s sound bite. Among them were the three shooters who fired 18 bullets, killing him and his brother on the spot. There was no retaliatory firing by the policemen escorting them, according to witnesses.
