PRAYAGRAJ : Exactly a year ago on this day, a former lawmaker from the Samajwadi Party, Atiq Ahmad, and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants as they were being taken for medical examination.
A year later, the mystery regarding the motive remains unsolved.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to investigate the murders has filed a chargesheet against the three assailants, arrested from the site of the killings.
Police claim that the assailants, currently lodged at Chitrakoot jail, committed the murders to establish a name and reputation for themselves in the underworld.
However, many questions regarding the murders remain unanswered.
The assailants, disguised as media persons, fired at the brothers from close range using sophisticated firearms in the presence of heavy police at the Motilal Nehru Hospital here. The video of the shootings quickly went viral on social media platforms.
The three assailants, identified as Lavlesh Tiwari (22) from Banda, Sunny Purane (23) from Hamirpur, and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) from Kasganj, were arrested from the spot. They claim to have never met each other before the day of the murder.
Based on a complaint filed by SHO Dhumanganj Rajesh Kumar Maurya, an FIR was lodged against the three assailants at Shahganj police station on April 17 under various sections, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120 B (conspiracy), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (fraud), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), along with sections of the Arms Act (3/25/27) and the Criminal Law Amendment Act (7 CLA).
Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma formed a three-member SIT, with ADCP (crime) Satish Chandra at its head, to investigate the case.
The SIT claimed that the three assailants planned the murders themselves and did not receive help from anyone else.
In June last year, the SIT filed a chargesheet against the three assailants. It comprised 2,056 pages of documents, including 2,000 pages of case diary, 56 pages of the chargesheet, scientific evidence, and statements.
According to the chargesheet, the assailants had past criminal records and planned to murder Atiq and Ashraf to gain fame and money. They used sophisticated firearms, provided to Sunny Singh by Delhi-based gangster Jitendra Man Gogi, for killing his rival, Tillu Tajpuria.
The SIT included over 200 witnesses in the case diary and chargesheet. The eyewitnesses and witnesses were mentioned separately. The eyewitnesses included 21 policemen engaged in the security of Atiq and Ashraf, 11 media personnel and more than 16 hospital personnel. The team submitted 70 CCTV footage and 15 video recordings from CCTV cameras as court evidence.
Even as the heat continues against Atiq’s remaining family members and other members, they are still on the run. They include his wife Shaista Parveen, sister Ayesha Noori, Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima, and henchmen Guddu Muslim, Mohd Arman, and Mohd Sabir.
According to a senior police official in Prayagraj, properties worth hundreds of crores belonging to Atiq, his kin, and associates have been attached.
Some of Atiq’s former associates and friends have turned against his family, lodging cases against them.
One such case involves a builder named Mohd Muslim, once a trusted associate of Atiq, who filed an FIR against Atiq’s eldest son, Umar, shortly after Atiq’s murder.
Several cases of extortion have also been registered against Atiq’s second son, Ali, by his own former associates and gang members.
ACP Varun said that the police had obtained remand for Ali and Umar in connection with the murder case of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police guards. The two would soon be questioned in jail, after which chargesheets would be filed against them in court.
Meanwhile, the police have announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for the arrest of Ashraf’s wife, Zainab. Atiq’s wife, Shaista, already carries a reward of Rs 50,000.
However, the police have yet to find any leads regarding their whereabouts. — IANS