NHRC Issues Notice To UP Police Officials Over Killing Of Gangster-Politician Atiq And Brother Ashraf

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday (18 April) issued notices to the Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, and Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj over the killing of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, while under police custody.

The human rights body has also sought a report from the police covering all aspects leading to the killings, a copy of the complaint and FIR registered against the deceased and whether information of arrest was given to family/relatives.

Additionally, it has also sought copies of medical-legal certificates of the deceased, inquest report, post-mortem report, video cassette/CD of the post-mortem examination, site plan of the scene of occurrence of the crime, the final cause of death based on FSL report, and a magisterial enquiry report (u/s 176(1-A)) CrPC as amended by the Act 25 of 2005.

Deputy Director, NHRC, Jamini Kumar Srivastava in a press statement said that the NHRC has taken cognizance of complaints alleging that two brothers Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf were killed by miscreants while in police custody in the Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reported.

Last Saturday (15 April), three shooters, namely, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh, and Lovelesh Tiwari, gunned down Atiq and his brother Ashraf, while they were being escorted for a medical checkup by uniformed personnel.

According to the FIR filed by the police, the moment Atiq and his brother started talking to the media, one of the shooters dropped his mic and camera and picked up a pistol, and fired at them.

Preliminary results of the autopsy conducted on Atiq’s body suggested that the gangster was shot at least eight times with bullet injuries found in his head, neck, and chest.

Meanwhile, a three-member judicial commission has been constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the matter. The panel, headed by Justice (Retired) Arvind Kumar Tripathi, will submit its report in two months.

Atiq, a former mafia don who later jumped into politics, had more than 100 cases against him, most notably the murders of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and Umesh Pal in February 2023.