UP: Atiq Ahmed's killers sent to 14-day judicial custody

PRAYAGRAJ: Three shooters who gunned down gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf last night, were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the Prayagraj court in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

They were produced in the court earlier today.

The three shooters who fired at Atiq and Ashraf while they was interacting with the media while being taken for a medical checkup, were identified as Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari.

Both the gangsters collapsed on the spot after they were shot at nearly point-blank range.

Internet was suspended thereafter in Prayagraj. However, it has been restored in some parts of the district.

After the killing of the gangsters in police custody, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held a high-level meeting last night and ordered a judicial probe into the incident.

Three-member judicial enquiry committee pertaining to the murder of Atiq Ahmed, his brother, will give a report to the UP government in two months.

The committee will be headed by Retired Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi of Allahabad HC, including retired IPC officer Subesh Kumar Singh and Retired District Judge Brijesh Kumar Soni.

Security was heightened in the city after Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj yesterday.

Section 144 of CrPC was imposed in all the districts of Uttar Pradesh.

"The situation is normal in all districts. Police are on alert," Praveen Kumar, IG Ayodhya range said.

Atiq Ahmad was accused in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year. All three assailants were arrested, informed police after Atiq and his brother were shot dead.

"Three people have been arrested and they are being questioned. A journalist was also injured as he fell down and a constable sustained a bullet injury," Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said earlier. Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday said that shooters who killed Atiq and Ashraf were posing as Journalists at the spot of the incident.

Shortly after mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said crime has reached its peak in the state and the morale of the "criminals" has grown by leaps and bounds.

"Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high. When someone can be killed openly despite being surrounded by a security cordon, one can imagine the state of the general public. Due to this (alleged encounter killings), an ambience of fear is being created among the public. It seems that some people are deliberately creating such an ambience," Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.