Five police officers have been suspended over the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj recently. Officials including the station officer of Shahganj police station were suspended for 'negligence' while taking Atiq and his brother Ashraf for a medical checkup on the night of April 15 when they were killed in full view of camera crews.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murders questioned the cops on Tuesday.
Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead by three men who came posing as journalists and shot them at point-blank range. The three accused—Lovelesh Tiwari, Mohit and Arun Kumar Maurya— were produced in a Prayagraj court amid tight security on Wednesday morning where they were sent to four-day police custody.
An FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Arms Act was registered against the three alleged assailants of Atiq and Ashraf at Shahganj police station. On Sunday, these three accused were produced before the remand magistrate who sent them to judicial custody for 14 days. They were initially lodged in Naini jail but were shifted to Pratapgarh prison citing security reasons.
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on April 24 a plea seeking an independent probe into the killings. Meanwhile, Atiq's lawyer Vijay Mishra said on Tuesday that a letter written by Atiq Ahmad two weeks before his murder with instructions to send it to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the chief justice of India in case of his death is being dispatched to them.
Atiq had earlier had moved the SC for protection, claiming that he and his family have been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case and he might be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
