Atiq Ahmed, 61, who had been jailed since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping, was answering reporters’ questions on Saturday when he and his brother Ashraf were shot at close range, the television images showed.
“According to preliminary information, three persons posing as journalists approached them and opened fire… The attackers have been held and are being questioned,” police official Prashant Kumar said.The TV clip in the northern city of Prayagraj shows the assailants shouting Hindu slogans after the brazen attack.
The two victims were from India’s Muslim minority but police did not say whether they were investigating a possible sectarian motive in the killings.
The brothers were deeply involved in India’s criminal underworld — the ex-MP was reportedly facing more than 100 different cases — and press reports said the attackers were petty criminals.
The pair were being taken to hospital for medical examinations and were surrounded by police officers at the time.
Local media reports said one of the gunmen was even carrying a television camera and another a microphone with the logo of a television channel.
Several days earlier police in the same state of Uttar Pradesh said they had shot dead Ahmed’s 19-year-old son and his accomplice in a shootout. Both were wanted in a case of murder.
Scores of people facing charges have been killed in the state in recent years in similar so-called “police encounters”, which rights groups say are often extra-judicial executions.
Ahmed, who had been facing charges of murder and assault, last month had claimed in a petition to India’s top court that his life was under threat from the police.
Following his shooting, gatherings of more than four people were banned Sunday across the crime-rife northern state of 200 million people that are ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The shooting sparked outrage among opposition parties accusing the BJP of ruling by fear.
Hundreds of politicians belonging to all parties across India have criminal cases pending against them, with poor Uttar Pradesh a particular hotspot.
These include nearly half of government ministers in the state including the state premier, according to independent monitoring group the Association for Democratic Reforms.
A former member of India’s Parliament convicted of kidnapping has been shot dead on live TV along with his brother while in police custody in the northern city of Prayagraj, raising questions about rule of law in the state of Uttar Pradesh.His son was already killed in an encounter
The gunmen, who appeared to have posed as journalists, fired multiple shots at Atiq Ahmed and former state legislator Ashraf Ahmed on Saturday as they were being taken in handcuffs to hospital by police for a medical checkup, authorities said.
Three suspects quickly surrendered to the police after the shooting with at least one of them chanting, “Jai Shri Ram,” or “Hail Lord Ram,” a slogan that has become a battle cry for Hindu nationalists in their campaign against Muslims.
The two victims were from India’s Muslim minority. Police did not say whether they were investigating a possible sectarian motive in the killings.
Police officer Ramit Sharma told The Associated Press news agency that the three assailants arrived on motorcycles and posed as journalists.
“They managed to reach close to Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording a byte and fired at them from close range,” he said. “Both sustained bullet injuries on the head.”
“It all happened in seconds,” Sharma said.
Another police official, Prashant Kumar, told the Agence France-Presse news agency that the attackers are being questioned.
The police have identified the attackers as Lavlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny Singh. The trio hails from the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Atiq Ahmed last month had said in a petition to India’s top court that his life was under threat from the police in the state ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
His lawyer, Vijay Mishra, said the shooting was shocking because “it is a clear failure of the police in ensuring the safety” of his clients.
The shooting occurred days after Atiq’s son Asad Ahmed, 19, and an accomplice, who had both been accused of a recent murder, were killed by police in what was described as a shootout.
Atiq Ahmed, 60, was jailed in 2019 after he was convicted of kidnapping. He was a local lawmaker four times and was also elected to India’s Parliament in 2004. He reportedly faced more than 100 legal cases.
More than 180 people facing charges have been killed in Uttar Pradesh in recent years in so-called “police encounters”, which human rights groups said are often extrajudicial executions.
In 2019, UN experts raised alarms about alleged police killings in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state and home to 200 million people.
Hundreds of politicians belonging to all parties across India have criminal cases pending against them, and nearly half of the ministers in Uttar Pradesh are criminal suspects, according to the independent Association for Democratic Reforms monitoring group.
Cases against the state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, were withdrawn after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.
Forensic officials examine the spot where Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead
Gatherings of more than four people were banned on Sunday across the crime-ridden northern state after the shootings.
Adityanath ordered an investigation into the slayings, which have sparked outrage among opposition leaders.
Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the Samajwadi Party, said: “Crime has reached its peak in UP, and the morale of the criminals is high.”
“When someone can be killed in firing openly amid the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public?” he tweeted in Hindi.
Dalit leader and former chief minister of the state, Mayawati, expressed her concerns about the killing, asking the Supreme Court to take notice of this “extremely serious and worrisome” incident.
“It raises serious questions on the law and order of the UP government and its style of functioning,” she said.Indian National Congress party leader Priyanka Gandhi also highlighted the rule of law.
“Criminals should be given the harshest punishment, but it should be according to the law of the land,” the Congress general secretary said. “Playing with or violating the rule of law and the judicial process for any political purpose is not right for our democracy.”