"It is cold-blooded murder"
Indian gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead live on TV in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.
This comes just days after Ahmed’s teenage son was shot dead by police.
Video footage showed Ahmed and his brother, both in handcuffs, speaking to journalists whilst being escorted by police to a medical checkup.
He was asked whether he attended his son’s funeral.
His last words to the camera were: “They did not take us, so we did not go.”
Shortly after, a gun is seen being pointed at Ahmed’s head before being fired several times, killing both men.
The three assailants then surrendered and were arrested.
It was reported that they had posed as journalists to get close to Ahmed and his brother.
The men have been identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny Singh. During questioning, they told police they carried out the shooting to become famous.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi slammed the BJP and called for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to resign.
He said: “You see the way the weapons were fired. It is cold-blooded murder and they (those involved in the killings) are professionals.
“How much is the role of BJP’s Uttar Pradesh government and who are these people who in the presence of police and media resorted to cold-blooded murder? Who told them?
“What is their background and why didn’t the police stop them? Why the police did not fire a single bullet?
“A Supreme-Court-monitored investigation should be done into this incident.”
A journalist at the scene recounted the terrifying moments.
Pankaj Srivastava revealed that while the brothers, accused in the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, were brought for a medical checkup, three people opened fire as the media was speaking with them.
He said: “Us and more journalists were there to take the accused persons’ bite and suddenly unidentified men opened fire, killing Atiq and Ashraf on spot.”
Pankaj said that at least 15 rounds were fired.
Explaining how his life was saved, Pankaj added:
“My colleague Shiv pushed me down and saved my life…”
Over the past two decades, dozens of cases, including kidnapping, murder and extortion, have been registered against Atiq Ahmed.
A local court sentenced him and two others to life in prison in March 2023 in a kidnapping case.
Ahmed had previously claimed there was a threat to his own life from the police.
The incident has raised questions about how a man could be killed in front of the media and the police.
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