On Sunday, nearly two days after three persons posing as media persons gunned down gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, the Uttar Pradesh police announced the formation of two special investigating teams (SITs) to probe the brazen killings.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the murders of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf will soon recreate the crime scene as part of its ongoing investigation, according to revealed sources.The SIT team will also investigate how many policemen tried to nab the attackers and how much time it took to control them.
The first SIT, to be headed by Additional DCP (crime) Satish Chandra, has been formed to probe the murder case registered at Shahganj police station, according to an order issued by Prayagraj Commissioner of Police Ramit Sharma on Sunday. The second SIT has been put together to supervise the first. This SIT will be headed by ADG Prayagraj Zone Bhanu Bhaskar and also have the Prayagraj Commissioner of Police and the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory as its members, according to an order issued by the Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police, RK Vishwakarma, on Sunday.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf Ahmad were shot dead by men posing as journalists on Saturday night, while they were being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Both the gangsters collapsed at the spot after being shot close to point-blank range.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognizance of the incident and ordered the setting up of a judicial commission in the matter. All three assailants, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh, and Lovelesh Tiwari, were sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on Sunday.
The last rites of a gangster-turned-politician and his brother took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj on Sunday. Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal and also in the killing of a key witness in that case, Umesh Pal, in February this year.
