News Analysis India

Tag: Atiq Ahmad

  • Assailants had media Id card, video camera, microphone: UP cops on Atiq’s murder

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: The three assailants who killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf posed as journalists, carrying video cameras, mike and media identity cards, the Uttar Pradesh Police said on Sunday.

    According to the statement issued by Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, the attackers used made-in-Turkiye pistols and fired indiscriminately from point-blank range on the two brothers.

    The statement identified the three accused as Sunny (23) from Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) from Banda, and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) from Kashganj.

    “At about 10.30 pm both Atiq and Ashraf were being taken for a health examination at Motilal Nehru Regional Hospital in the Shahganj area, where media persons were persistently trying to take bite of the two,” the Special DG (Law and Order) said in the statement.

    “The media persons were breaking the security cordon to reach the accused (Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf) for taking their bites. In this sequence, both Atiq and Ashraf were giving bites to the media and they were escorted (by the police). Meanwhile, from the crowd of media, three media persons with a video camera, mike and media Id reached them and started firing indiscriminately,” he said.

    The two brothers got injured and fell on the ground instantly, he said, adding they were taken to the hospital where they were declared dead.

    ALSO READ: I’ll be found dead by the roadside: Atiq’s premonition came true

    Constable Maan Singh has sustained a firearm injury, the police statement issued this evening said, adding some media persons also got injured due to the “stampede” following the firing.

    The injured policeman has been also sent for treatment. The three attackers were caught by the policemen using necessary force, the statement said.

    According to information gathered till now, Sunny is a professional criminal and a history-sheeter and has 14 criminal cases including that of murder, loot, narcotics transport, and attempt to murder pending against him in Hamirpur, Kumar said.

    Tiwari faces cases of selling illicit liquor, manhandling and harassing women at the City and Beberu police stations in Banda, he said, adding cases under Information Technology Act were also registered against him. Maurya’s criminal history is being traced, he said.

    ALSO READ: Kin of Atiq killers disown them

    The statement said police have recovered three firearms including a countrymade A-30 pistol (7.62), a made-in-Turkiye nine-mm Girsan pistol, and a 9-mm Zigana Pistol, also made in Turkiye, it said.

    An FIR has been registered in this case at Shahganj police station and a probe is underway.

    A report on the entire incident has been sent to the National Human Rights Commission and the State Human Rights Commission.

    A three-member judicial commission has been constituted by the government that will submit its report within two months.

    The commission is headed by HC Justice (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, while ex-DGP Subesh Kumar Singh and former district Judge Brijesh Kumar Soni are its members.

    Both Atiq and Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareilly prisons for interrogation in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal and his two police security guards.

    ALSO READ: ‘Jungle Raj’, ‘mafia raj’, anarchy: Opposition slams BJP over Atiq’s killing

    LUCKNOW: The three assailants who killed gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf posed as journalists, carrying video cameras, mike and media identity cards, the Uttar Pradesh Police said on Sunday.

    According to the statement issued by Special DG (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, the attackers used made-in-Turkiye pistols and fired indiscriminately from point-blank range on the two brothers.

    The statement identified the three accused as Sunny (23) from Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) from Banda, and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) from Kashganj.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “At about 10.30 pm both Atiq and Ashraf were being taken for a health examination at Motilal Nehru Regional Hospital in the Shahganj area, where media persons were persistently trying to take bite of the two,” the Special DG (Law and Order) said in the statement.

    “The media persons were breaking the security cordon to reach the accused (Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf) for taking their bites. In this sequence, both Atiq and Ashraf were giving bites to the media and they were escorted (by the police). Meanwhile, from the crowd of media, three media persons with a video camera, mike and media Id reached them and started firing indiscriminately,” he said.

    The two brothers got injured and fell on the ground instantly, he said, adding they were taken to the hospital where they were declared dead.

    ALSO READ: I’ll be found dead by the roadside: Atiq’s premonition came true

    Constable Maan Singh has sustained a firearm injury, the police statement issued this evening said, adding some media persons also got injured due to the “stampede” following the firing.

    The injured policeman has been also sent for treatment. The three attackers were caught by the policemen using necessary force, the statement said.

    According to information gathered till now, Sunny is a professional criminal and a history-sheeter and has 14 criminal cases including that of murder, loot, narcotics transport, and attempt to murder pending against him in Hamirpur, Kumar said.

    Tiwari faces cases of selling illicit liquor, manhandling and harassing women at the City and Beberu police stations in Banda, he said, adding cases under Information Technology Act were also registered against him. Maurya’s criminal history is being traced, he said.

    ALSO READ: Kin of Atiq killers disown them

    The statement said police have recovered three firearms including a countrymade A-30 pistol (7.62), a made-in-Turkiye nine-mm Girsan pistol, and a 9-mm Zigana Pistol, also made in Turkiye, it said.

    An FIR has been registered in this case at Shahganj police station and a probe is underway.

    A report on the entire incident has been sent to the National Human Rights Commission and the State Human Rights Commission.

    A three-member judicial commission has been constituted by the government that will submit its report within two months.

    The commission is headed by HC Justice (retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, while ex-DGP Subesh Kumar Singh and former district Judge Brijesh Kumar Soni are its members.

    Both Atiq and Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareilly prisons for interrogation in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal and his two police security guards.

    ALSO READ: ‘Jungle Raj’, ‘mafia raj’, anarchy: Opposition slams BJP over Atiq’s killing

  • Killing of Atiq Ahmad as heinous as Umesh Pal murder case: Mayawati

    It would be better if the Supreme Court takes cognisance of this “extremely serious and worrisome” incident, which is being discussed across the country, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said. LUCKNOW: BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday said the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in police custody in Prayagraj raises serious questions over the style of functioning of the Uttar Pradesh government.

    It would be better if the Supreme Court takes cognisance of this “extremely serious and worrisome” incident, which is being discussed across the country, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

    In a series of tweets, she said, “Now, instead of ‘rule of law by law’ in Uttar Pradesh, how appropriate is it that it becomes ‘encounter Pradesh’? Something to think about.”

    “The shooting dead of Atiq Ahmad, who was brought from Gujarat jail and his brother Ashraf, who was brought from Bareilly jail last night in Prayagraj, in police custody, is just as heinous as the Umesh Pal murder case. It raises serious questions on the law and order of the UP government and its style of functioning,” she said.

    BJP leader Umesh Pal was killed by Atiq’s men in 2005.

    Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad (60) and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

    The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm.

    The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.

    The last rites of Ahmad’s son Asad, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were performed here just hours before the shooting.

    Briefing reporters about the incident, Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, Ramit Sharma said the three assailants, who were arrested immediately after the incident, had joined the group of reporters who were trying to get sound bites from Ahmad and Ashraf.

    “In accordance with a mandatory legal requirement, Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were brought to the hospital for a medical examination. According to preliminary information, three men posing as journalists approached them and opened fire. Ahmad and Ashraf were killed in the attack. The attackers have been held and are being questioned,” Sharma said.

    Officials said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Ahmad and his brother.

  • AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi denied nod to meet ex-MP Atiq Ahmad in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi was on Monday denied permission by authorities here to meet former Uttar Pradesh MP Atiq Ahmad, who is lodged at the Ahmedabad-based Sabarmati Central Jail, in the wake of COVID-19 guidelines and other reasons, a party leader said.

    Owaisi is on a day-long visit to Ahmedabad to meet party workers, office bearers and supporters.

    He had also planned to meet Ahmad, the jailed gangster who recently joined the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

    “The Sabarmati jail authorities denied permission to Owaisi to meet Atiq Ahmad on the ground of COVID-19 protocols and also since he is not Ahmad’s blood relative,” AIMIM Gujarat president Sabir Kabliwala said.

    The AIMIM had sought permission from jail authorities for a meeting between Owaisi and Ahmad in the jail premises, but it was denied at last moment, he said.

    Ahmad, who has several criminal cases lodged against him, was in June 2019 transferred to the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail here from the UP’s Naini jail, where was lodged for allegedly kidnapping and assaulting a businessman, on directions of the Supreme Court.

    Owaisi’s party had forayed into Gujarat politics with local body polls earlier this year and plans to field its candidates in state Assembly elections due next year.

    Earlier this month, Ahmad’s wife Shaista Praveen joined the AIMIM at a press conference in Lucknow, while the jailed former MP joined the Owaisi-led party party in absentia.

    Ahmad was previously associated with various political parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Apna Dal (Sonewal faction).

  • Mukhtar Ansari brought back to UP, Atiq Ahmad next: Minister Anand Swarup Shukla

    By PTI
    BALLIA: A day after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to the state from a prison in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh minister Anand Swarup Shukla on Thursday said jailed former parliamentarian and strongman Atiq Ahmad is next.

    Five-time legislator and one-time MP Ahmad, now over 60, has more then 90 criminal cases, including murder, abduction, illegal mining, extortion, intimidation and fraud, against him.

    He is lodged in a prison in Gujarat.

    He was shifted there from Uttar Pradesh on the direction of the Supreme Court in 2019.

    “The Uttar Pradesh government succeeded in bringing back Ansari despite several tricks by the Punjab government. Now we will try to bring Atiq Ahmad back from Gujarat,” Shukla told reporters here.

    It is the duty of the state government to bring back such criminals to UP as they have to be punished for their crimes, he said.

    “Already a number of Ahmad’s lavish bungalows in Allahabad have been bulldozed,” the Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs said.

    The Uttar Pradesh government brought Ansari back from the Ropad prison in Punjab to Banda jail on Wednesday morning.

  • Lucknow court orders arrest of former Lok Sabha MP Atiq Ahmad’s son Mohammad Umar

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: A Lucknow court on Friday ordered the arrest of former Lok Sabha MP Atiq Ahmad’s son Mohammad Umar for allegedly extorting money and assaulting a real estate businessman in 2018.

    Special CBI court’s Judicial Magistrate Subrat Pathak issued the non-bailable warrant against Umar after he failed to appear before the court in responses to a summons issued to him earlier in the extortion case.

    The court had earlier issued the summons to the ex-MP’s son while taking cognizance of the charge sheet filed by the CBI in the case lodged against him and his father along with others.

    After issuing the NBW, the court slated February 23 as the next date of hearing in the case.

    The FIR in the case was lodged on the complaint of realtor Mohit Jaiswal at Krishna Nagar police station in December 2018.

    He had alleged that Atiq had got him kidnapped and taken to Deoria, where he was assaulted and forced to execute a sale deed of properties worth crores of rupees in his name.

    His son and others had also assaulted Jaiswal and robbed of his SUV, Jaiswal had alleged in his complaint.

    The case was later transferred by the Supreme Court to the CBI, which probed the case and filed an interim charge-sheet earlier in the case.

    The CBI is still investigating the case and would file an additional charge sheet after completing its probe.

    In the charge-sheet filed earlier, the CBI has indicted 12 people, including the ex-MP’s son Umar.