Don Atiq Ahmed, brother shot dead under UP police escort — and on live TV

Atiq and Ashraf were in police custody remand from April 13. It was to end Sunday evening at 5 pm. The shooters and one more associate surrendered to the policemen immediately after firing several rounds using semi-automatic pistols. The killers, who threw the two pistols used for shooting at the spot, have not been identified yet. “They are being interrogated and we will know details later,” said Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma, who visited the spot later in the night.

While Uttar Pradesh has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC in all districts, officials said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Atiq and his brother Ashraf.

Earlier in the day, Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed and his aide Ghulam Hassan were buried by the family in Kasari Masari village in Prayagraj. The two were killed in the police encounter – Encounter 183rd – in Jhansi on April 13 noon.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath summoned DGP RK Vishwakarma and the Special DG, Law & Order, Prashant Kumar immediately after the shootout.

A senior official told The Indian Express, the interrogation of Atiq and Ashraf was almost completed and as per routine legal procedure both were taken to the hospital in police security for a check-up before sending them back in judicial custody.

The two got down from the police van in the hospital campus and were walking, escorted by the policemen. Both were a few yards away from the entrance of the hospital when TV mediapersons put microphones before Atiq.

#AtiqAhmed, his brother shot dead | UP CM Yogi Adityanath has instructed Police officers to be on alert, ensure peace, law & order maintained in the state and public doesn’t face any trouble. CM has also appealed to people not to pay any attention to rumours. Strict action will…

— ANI (@ANI) April 15, 2023

Barely had they posed a question when the cameras showed a hand carrying a pistol from behind Atiq, pushing aside his white turban with the nozzle of the gun, and firing from point blank range at his left temple. Exactly at the same moment, another bullet pierces Ashraf’s neck from the left side and both the brothers slumped on the ground.

Police cordon off the area where Atiq Ahmed was shot dead. (Express Photo: Ritesh Shukla)

Atiq is seen in the video holding tight the hand of a police constable, Maan Singh, as he fell on the ground after being shot at. The policeman too sustained a gunshot as the shooters kept firing continuously.

As if this was a rewind of the February 24 shootout when Atiq’s gang had surrounded Umesh Pal – the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal – and two police gunners, the two youths from a distance of a mere 2-3 steps were captured in cameras firing continuously aiming Atiq and Ashraf. The two next to each other on the ground as policemen at the scene and other onlookers including mediapersons and hospital staff ran away.

Seconds after emptying the magazines of their pistols at Atiq and Ashraf, who were once a terror in Prayagraj, the two shooters raised their hands and handed themselves to the policemen present there. Another youth carrying a bag on his shoulder too followed and surrendered to the cops.

Around 30 minutes after the shootout, two women – one around 60 and the other in her 30s – arrived at the spot shouting that ‘Yogiji’ and the police were behind the killings. The women said they were neighbours.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Sharma told the media that Atiq and Ashraf were brought to the hospital for a mandatory medical checkup as per legal procedure. The youths had come there in the garb of media men and went close to the two brothers as if they wanted to record them. They started firing, killing Atiq and his brother Ashraf on the spot, he said.