Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Former Indian MP Atiq Ahmed and brother shot dead live on TV

Former Indian MP Atiq Ahmed and brother shot dead live on TV

A former Indian politician convicted of kidnapping has been shot dead live on TV along with his brother.
Atiq Ahmed, who was under police escort, was talking to reporters when a gun was pulled close to his head in Prayagraj, also known as Allahabad.After the shots were fired on Saturday night, three men who had been posing as journalists quickly surrendered and were taken into custody.

Ahmed’s teenage son was shot dead by police days earlier.

Dozens of cases, including kidnapping, murder and extortion, were registered against Atiq Ahmed over the past two decades.

A local court sentenced him and two others to life in jail in March this year in a kidnapping case.

Ahmed had previously claimed there was a threat to his own life from the police.

Video showed Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, both in handcuffs, speaking to journalists on the way to a medical check-up at a hospital seconds before they were both shot.

In the footage, shared widely on social media and TV channels, Ahmed is asked whether he attended his son’s funeral.

His last words to camera are: “They did not take us, so we did not go.”

The three suspected assailants had arrived at the site on motorcycles, the police said. A policeman and a journalist were also injured at the scene.

Following Saturday night’s incident Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a judicial probe into the killings and banned large gatherings in the districts of Uttar Pradesh state to ensure peace.

Experts have raised questions on how a man could be killed in front of the media and the police. BBC Hindi correspondent Anant Zanane reported from Prayagraj that the city was in a lockdown-like situation.

He had a long stint both in politics and with the criminal world. He was first accused in a murder case in 1979. In the next 10 years, he emerged as a person who had strong influence in the western part of Allahabad city.

He won his first election as an independent candidate and became a state lawmaker in 1989. He went on to win the seat for two consecutive terms and his fourth win came as a lawmaker from the regional Samajwadi party (SP).

In 2004, he won a seat in the federal election as an SP candidate and became an MP. Meanwhile, cases continued to be filed against him in Allahabad and other parts of the state.

Ahmed contested a few more elections in the next decade but lost all of them. In 2019, India’s top court ordered that he should be moved to a jail in Gujarat state after it emerged that he planned attacks on a businessman from a prison in Uttar Pradesh where he was being held awaiting trial in another case.

He was brought back to Prayagraj in March from Gujarat to appear in a local court as it announced his sentencing in a kidnapping case.

Ahmed was also brought to the city to be questioned in other cases. His brother Ashraf, who was in a jail in Bareilly district, was also brought to the city to be questioned.

They were both being questioned in the February murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder of Raju Pal, a lawmaker belonging to the regional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Raju Pal had defeated Ashraf in the 2004 assembly elections in Atiq Ahmed’s political stronghold. Umesh Pal was killed in February this year when several people fired at him.

Atiq Ahmed’s teenage son Asad and few others were named as the main suspects in the Umesh Pal murder case. Asad and another man were killed by police earlier this week in what was described as a shootout.

Last month India’s Supreme Court declined to hear Ahmed’s petition in which he alleged there was a threat to his life from the police.

Uttar Pradesh is governed by BJP, and opposition parties criticized the killings as a security lapse.

“Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high,” Akhilesh Yadav, chief the opposition Samajwadi Party, tweeted in Hindi.

“When someone can be killed in firing openly amidst the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public.

“Due to this, an atmosphere of fear is being created among the public, it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere,” he added.

More than 180 people facing various charges have been killed by police in the state in the past six years.

Rights activists accuse the police of carrying out extra-judicial killings, which the state’s government denies.

The police usually calls them “encounters” — many say these are really staged confrontations which almost invariably end with dead criminals and unscathed police.

Encounters carried out by police are — at least in part — a response to India’s grindingly slow and dysfunctional criminal justice system.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Druzhba Pipeline Incident Sparks Geopolitical Tensions
Cost of Opposition Leader Péter Magyar's Economic Plan Revealed
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
Eurozone Inflation Rises to 2.1% in August
Russia and China Sign New Gas Pipeline Deal
Von der Leyen's Plane Hit by Suspected Russian GPS Interference in an Incident Believed to Be Caused by Russia or by Pro-Peace or by Anti-Corruption European Activists
China's Robotics Industry Fuels Export Surge
Suntory Chairman Resigns After Police Probe
Gold Price Hits New All-Time Record
UK Fintechs Explore Buying US Banks
Greece Suspends 5% of Schools as Birth Rate Drops
Apollo to Launch $5 Billion Sports Investment Vehicle
Bolsonaro Trial Nears Close Amid US-Brazil Tension
European Banks Push for Lower Cross-Border Barriers
Poland's Offshore Wind Sector Attracts Investors
Budapest Central European Fashion Week Kicks Off
U.S. Celebrates Labor Day
Hungarian National Team Captain Scores Epic Goal
EU is getting aggressive: Four AfD Candidates Die Unexpectedly Ahead of North Rhine-Westphalia Local Elections
Japanese Customer Sways from VW to BYD after “Unbelievable” Test Drive amid Dealership Expansion
Nestlé Removes CEO Laurent Freixe Following Undisclosed Relationship with Subordinate
Pickles are the latest craze among Generation Z in the United States.
Giuliani Seriously Injured in Accident – Trump to Award Him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Deadline Day Delivers Record £125m Isak Move and Donnarumma to City
Nvidia Reveals: Two Mystery Customers Account for About 40% of Revenue
Woody Allen: "I Would Be Happy to Direct Trump Again in a Film"
Lula and Putin Hold Strategic BRICS Discussions Ahead of Trump–Putin Summit
White House Eyes Budapest for Peace Talks
Cave Diving Beneath the Streets of Budapest
Another American Restaurant Chain Opens in Budapest
Hungarian Opposition Politician Supports Ukrainian Commander
Opposition Leader Threatens Media Outlets
American Airlines Adds New Flights to Budapest
F1 Hungarian Grand Prix Wraps Up
WhatsApp is rolling out a feature that looks a lot like Telegram.
U.S. Trade Representative says Washington still negotiating trade deals after court rules tariffs illegal
Von der Leyen says Europe drawing up 'precise' plans to send troops to Ukraine
Kremlin accuses Europe of hindering Trump’s peace efforts in Ukraine
×