New Delhi: Former Congress leader and senior lawyer in the Supreme Court expressed his doubt over the on-camera killing of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother in Prayagraj under police security cover.
In a tweet, Sibal raised questions about the late-night medical check without an emergency, allowing the duo to interact with the media and the imported weapons used to kill the former MP and his brother.
"Odd:
1) 10 pm for a medical check-up?
2) No medical emergency
3) made victims walk
4) open to media?
5) assassins unknown to each other at the spot?
6) weapons above 7lakhs
7) well trained to shoot!
8) All 3 surrendered"
Late on Saturday night, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range in Prayagraj while they were being escorted by armed pon-cameraon-cameraare olicemen for a "medical check-up". Three men posing as journalists opened fire on them, killing them on the spot.
It is unclear if Atiq and Ashraf were experiencing a medical emergency, and if they were, they should have been in an ambulance instead of being escorted by armed policemen. According to police officers quoted in some reports, a night medical check-up is considered unusual.
The killers, identified as Arun Maurya, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Sunny, made no effort to escape and were subsequently arrested. They have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days. The police have claimed that the trio killed Atiq and Ashraf to make a name for themselves in the underworld. Upon investigation, police recovered three pistols from the killers, two of which were 9mm guns made in Turkey, and the third was a country-made 7.62 weapon.
The entire incident was caught live on camera. Atiq was shot dead while responding to a question about not being able to attend the funeral of his son Asad. Atiq Ahmad, his brother, and his son were among those accused in the murder of Umesh Pal, a witness to the 2005 killing of the Bahujan Samaj Party's Raju Pal.
In response to the incident, the Uttar Pradesh government has set up a three-member judicial committee to investigate the killings of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf. The UP Police has also set up a three-member team to address questions and concerns.