New Delhi: Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-politician, and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on Saturday night while being brought for medical testing in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. A ‘secret letter’ from Atiq Ahmed is being sent to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the Chief Justice of India in the event of his death, according to the dead gangster-turned-politician lawyer on Tuesday. “That letter in a sealed envelope is neither with me nor sent by me. It is kept somewhere else and sent by some other person. I don’t know the contents of the letter,” said his lawyer Vijay Mishra.
Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed wrote a letter to CM Yogi Adityanath and the Supreme Court two weeks before the murder. Expressing the suspicion of murder in this letter, Atiq mentioned fourteen names. The development came just hours after Asad Ahmed, son of Atiq Ahmed, was laid to rest at Prayagraj’s Kasari Masari graveyard. Following the deaths, security around Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s residence was increased.
Atiq Ahmed 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. “Atiq Ahmed had said that if there were any mishap or if he was murdered, the letter in the sealed envelope should be sent to the chief justice of India and Uttar Pradesh chief minister,” said lawyer Mishra.
Earlier, as he walked out of the Sabarmati jail, Ahmed yelled to reporters, “hatya, hatya” (murder), indicating his fear of being killed in an encounter. He had also petitioned the Supreme Judicial to have his trip to Uttar Pradesh for a judicial hearing halted, claiming a threat to his life in a “fake encounter” following Umesh Pal’s murder. The emergence of Ahmed’s letter has aroused concerns about the possibility of a bigger plot behind the murder.
#WATCH | “While being taken from Prayagraj to Bareilly, he (Ashraf) was taken to Police Line where a Police official told him, “Iss baar bache ho lekin 15 din mein jail se nikaal ke kaam tamam kar denge”…Ashraf didn’t reveal name but said that if murdered, a sealed envelope… pic.twitter.com/4CvqLI7Y1S
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) April 17, 2023
UP Police forms two SITs to probe killing
The Uttar Pradesh police have formed two three-member Special Task Forces to probe the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf. In order to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action, a three-member team of supervisors has also been formed.
Internet Services resumed in Prayagraj
Internet services have resumed in Prayagraj after remaining suspended for two days in the wake of killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, officials said Tuesday. Internet services were suspended by authorities on Sunday.
District Magistrate, Prayagraj, Sanjay Kumar Khatri told PTI, “Internet services have resumed last night itself. They were suspended on Sunday. Everything is functioning normally, be it markets or schools. The schools were open yesterday as well.”
The resumption of Internet services have come as a relief for residents.
Amid a blame game over the sensational killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, three sharpshooters, who sprayed bullets killing the two on the spot, were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday over security concerns