On 13th April 2023, Asad Ahmed, son of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed, was killed in a police encounter at Jhansi. Asad Ahmed was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case. Along with Asad, his associate Ghulam Muhammad was also killed in the encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police STF.
As soon as the news of this encounter came to light, liberals started questioning the authenticity of this encounter and started demanding a probe into this encounter with the dreaded gangster. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were the flag bearers of the people questioning this encounter.
Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “By doing false encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from the real issues. The BJP does not believe in the court at all. Today’s and recent encounters should also be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. The power does not have the right to decide what is right or wrong. BJP is against the brotherhood.”
झूठे एनकाउंटर करके भाजपा सरकार सच्चे मुद्दों से ध्यान भटकाना चाह रही है। भाजपाई न्यायालय में विश्वास ही नहीं करते हैं। आजके व हालिया एनकाउंटरों की भी गहन जाँच-पड़ताल हो व दोषियों को छोड़ा न जाए। सही-गलत के फ़ैसलों का अधिकार सत्ता का नहीं होता है।
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 13, 2023
भाजपा भाईचारे के ख़िलाफ़ है।
Asking for a probe into this encounter, BSP supremo Mayawati tweeted, “Many types of discussions are going on about the killing of Prayagraj’s Atiq Ahmed’s son and another person in a police encounter today. People feel that their apprehension of a repeat of the Vikas Dubey incident has come true. Therefore, a high-level inquiry is necessary so that the complete facts and truth of the incident can come before the public.”
प्रयागराज के अतीक अहमद के बेटे व एक अन्य की आज पुलिस मुठभेड़ में हुई हत्या पर अनेकों प्रकार की चर्चायें गर्म हैं। लोगों को लगता है कि विकास दुबे काण्ड के दोहराए जाने की उनकी आशंका सच साबित हुई है। अतः घटना के पूरे तथ्य व सच्चाई जनता के सामने आ सके इसके लिए उच्च-स्तरीय जाँच जरूरी।
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) April 13, 2023
Trinamool Congress Party’s MP Mahua Moitra addressed the media and criticized the encounter of the gangster who had a reward of Rs. 5 lakhs on his head. She said, “This does not surprise me because I remember one of your colleagues (media person) was telling me before this, that gentleman who is brought from Gujarat to Meerut and in connection with that the honourable chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mr Ajay Bisht, had said that cars can overturn. His real name is Ajay Bisht. He calls himself a Yogi. But I redescribe his name. I call people by their real names. So, anyways, his car overturned and he said that cars can overturn. The other name for Mr Ajay Bisht was ‘Mr Thok Do’. Because whenever he was a chief minister or when he was an MP, he would like to tell his police and law and order enforcement agencies, ‘Thok do’ which means finish them off. So this kind of lawlessness, jungle rule without resorting to the rule of law, encounters killings have always flourished under the honourable gentleman and continue to do so.”
#WATCH | “The other name for Mr Ajay Bisht was ‘Mr Thok Do’….so this kind of complete lawlessness, jungle raj, encounter killings always flourished under the gentleman&contiue to do so,” says TMC MP Mahua Moitra on police encounter killing of Umesh Pal murder accused today. pic.twitter.com/MS7fy0l4g6
— ANI (@ANI) April 13, 2023
Mahua Moitra further said, “I hope that the people of India will see this, for what it is is just the tip of the ice. So when you start with something that is incitement of violence like ‘Maar Do’, ‘Kaat Do’, ‘Jala Do’, this kind of hatred, venom this is the kind of culture that ultimately lands up in the kind of jungle law. Why do we have a constitution? Why did we become independent? Because we wanted to live under the framework of the rule of the law. That is the most important thing our constitution guarantees us. So when you have a chief minister, a home minister that is basically sitting there saying that puppies get crushed under the vehicle or cars can overturn or it is okay if somebody dies, then you are basically pointing fingers at the constitution, which is exactly what the government and the BJP is doing day after day after day.”
Asad Ahmed was planning to free Atiq Ahmed
Notably, Asad Ahmed, son of the mafia don Atiq Ahmed, who was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police Special Task Force, was planning to get his father out of the police custody. Prashant Kumar, Special Director General, Law and Order, Uttar Pradesh Police, shared this information on 13th April 2023.
Asad Ahmed was plotting to get his father Atiq Ahmed out of police custody. For this, he was also planning to attack the police convoy. Asad Ahmed wanted to execute his plans when Atiq Ahmed was being brought to UP, the SDGP said. the encounter took place on the same day when Atiq Ahmed – who was taken to Prayagraj by road from Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail – and his brother Ashraf both were produced before the chief judicial magistrate’s court in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. After Umesh Pal’s murder, Asad and Ghulam were both on the run. Several teams of STF were deployed to nab the two miscreants who were finally killed in an encounter.
Atiq Ahmed confessed his links with Pakistan’s ISI and Lashkar-e-Taiba
As liberals demand a probe into the death of Asad Ahmed in an encounter to shield the mafia-turned-politician and former Samajwadi Party MP Atiq Ahmed and his gang under the garb of respecting the constitution, it becomes necessary to see how the encounter took place and whom the deceased Asad Ahmed was planning to free from the police custody.
According to police officials, on Thursday, when an STF (Special Task Force) team stopped Asad and Ghulam, who were trying to escape on a motorcycle in Jhansi, both of them opened fire on the STF team. Asad and Ghulam were killed in the STF’s retaliatory action.
Also, on Thursday, the Prayagraj Chief Judicial Magistrate ordered Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf to four days in police custody in the Umesh Pal murder case. Both were detained by police on April 13. Atiq Ahmed said in a statement to Uttar Pradesh Police that he has direct connections with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba.
In his statement included in the police chargesheet, Atiq Ahmed said, “I have no dearth of weapons because I have direct connections with Pakistan’s ISI and the terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. Weapons from Pakistan are dropped on the Punjab border with the help of drones and local connection collects them. Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir get weapons from this consignment. If you take me with you, I can help you recover the money, arms, and ammunition used in the incident.”
On March 28, an MP-MLA court convicted and sentenced Atiq Ahmed to rigorous life imprisonment in the kidnapping of now-dead Umesh Pal. Atiq Ahmed, who has been charged in over 100 instances over the last 43 years, was convicted in the same case.
