Atiq Ahmed's son Asad Ahmed and his associate Ghulam, who were killed Thursday (13 April) by Uttar Pradesh police in Jhansi, had allegedly planned to attack the convoy of jailed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, according to an NDTV exclusive.

Sources say their aim was not to break Atiq free, as the security was tight, but rather to fire some rounds at the convoy to create a spectacle and embarrass the state government.

Asad and co-accused had planned, through their actions, to stop the transfer of Atiq from Gujarat to Uttar Pradesh after questions would be raised of his security.

Sources also said that after Umesh Pal's murder, Atiq and Ashraf had trouble safeguarding Asad and had reached out to their acquaintances for assistance.

Asad reportedly met with his uncle Ashraf for more than two hours on 28 March, the same day his father and two others were sentenced to life in prison for their involvement in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case.

Umesh Pal's murder was planned on 11 February with Asad and eight others involved in the meeting, said to be arranged with prison authorities, with Ashraf in Bareilly jail. No security cameras were present at the location. The murder occurred 13 days later.

Police sources report Atiq and Ashraf confessed to the meeting.

Umesh Pal, the primary witness in the Raju Pal murder case, and his police security guards, Raghavendra Singh and Sandeep Nishad, were fatally shot outside his Prayagraj home on 24 February.