The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has filed a detailed status report in the Supreme Court of India, highlighting that there has been no fault on the part of the State police in the assassination of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed.
The development came more than a month after the apex court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to submit an affidavit, outlining the investigation status in the encounters of 7 gangsters including Prem Prakash Pandey, Atul Dubey, Amar Dubey, Prabhat Mishra, Praveen Dubey, Vikas Dubey and Asad Ahmed.
A Bench of two Supreme Court Judges, namely, Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice S Ravindra Bhat also asked the State government to mention the status of the case of the assassination of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf.
The directive, which was issued on August 11 this year, came in response to a petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari in the apex court. In its status report, the UP government informed that investigations were conducted in all cases in accordance with the guidelines of the Supreme Court.
Atiq-Ashraf Murder Case
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'No fault of cops in the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf': UP Police files status report in Supreme Court.@harishvnair1 shares more details with @Aditi14Bhardwaj#SupremeCourt #UPPolice #AtiqAhmed pic.twitter.com/YY8Ads5sYG
The report outlined that there has been no fault on the part of the police in the assassination of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed. It stated that a 3-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to investigate the case.
“It was found that the accused individuals, Sunny Singh alias Purane Singh alias Mohit, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Arun Kumar Mauhad committed the crime with common intention and before the incident, they had stayed in a hotel on the basis of forged Aadhar cards, as a result, on the basis of evidence, section 34/419/420/467/468/471 IPC was included in the case,” the status report emphasised.
The Yogi Adityanath-led-Uttar Pradesh government also pointed out that the police filed a chargesheet in the case on July 12 this year. It added that a case was registered with the District and Sessions Judge of Prayagraj after the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) took cognisance of the matter.
“it is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a fair and impartial investigation into the incidents which includes the murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. The sweeping allegations made against it are completely false and unjustified,” the status report underlined.
Criminal record of Atiq Ahmed and his assassination
On April 15 this year, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead from point-blank range in Prayagraj. Two days earlier (April 13, 2023), his son Asad Ahmed and aide Ghulam were also neutralised in an encounter operation by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
In total, 102 cases were filed against Atiq Ahmed in his lifetime, including those of threats, murder attempts, and kidnapping. On January 25, 2005, BSP MLA Raju Pal and his companions were attacked by armed assailants in the vicinity of the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj.
An FIR was filed at the Dhoomanganj police station regarding the murder and other charges against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, and seven unnamed people on the basis of the complaint submitted by Raju Pal’s wife Pooja.
The primary witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, Umesh Pal, was fatally shot on February 24 this year in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, close to his home. The attack took the lives of two policemen assigned to guard the lawyer.
Atiq Ahmed, his son Asad Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed (an ex-MLA) were among the prime accused in the case. He was the first person who was booked under the ‘Gangster Act’ in Uttar Pradesh.
His criminal history ran very deep. He was accused of murder at the young age of 17. After that, he became so well-known in the underworld that his popularity even overshadowed that of the dons of Mumbai. Aiq Ahmed was involved in attacking Mayawati in the 1995 ‘guest house case’.
He also had ties to Pakistani terrorist organisations, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police’s charge sheet against him. The gangster admitted to having regular contact with Pakistan’s ISI, LeT, and Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Company and also received arms dropped through Pakistani drones in Punjab.
The initial complaint against him was filed way back in 1979, which in itself is a testimony of Atiq Ahmed’s long-standing criminal record.
