New Delhi/Prayagraj: The three shooters who killed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Saturday night had been moving around with pistols, as a part of the reporters’ group chasing the duo since 14 April, but did not get a chance to execute their plan earlier, ThePrint has learnt.
“They had been roaming around as reporters since they got information about Atiq’s police remand. They arranged for a fake press ID, a camera and a mic to be a part of the press group and knew his whereabouts from local reporters,” a UP Police source told ThePrint.
Atiq and Ashraf were remanded to police custody from 14 to 17 April for questioning in the Umesh Pal murder case.
“After their arrest, they (assailants) told us they would have killed both Atiq and Ashraf earlier on 15 April, but did not get a chance. They claimed to have missed them (Atiq and Ashraf) twice,” added the source.
The police filed an FIR at Dhoomanganj police station against the three accused under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), besides relevant sections of the Arms Act.
According to the FIR, which is in Hindi and accessed by ThePrint, Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Mohit alias Sunny (23) and Arun Kumar Maurya (18), wanted to make a name for themselves in Uttar Pradesh by wiping out Atiq and Ashraf’s alleged gang, ‘IS 227 (Inter-State 227)’.
For this, the FIR read, they procured weapons and made a plan to pose as “media persons” to carry out the killing.
“When asked about the motive of the murder, the three men said they wanted to make a name for themselves in UP by wiping out the Atiq-Ashraf gang. They said that they believed they would reap the benefits of it in the future,” the source said.
According to the FIR, the men also told the police that they could not make a correct assessment of police presence in the area, which is why they could not escape after the murder.
On how the crime unfolded, the FIR said that Atiq and Ashraf were taken for a medical examination on the night of 15 April after they complained of “uneasiness”, “amid police security around 10.35pm”.
“They were in handcuffs and were being taken inside the hospital when a group of media persons came for a sound byte. As they stopped, another group of 10-12 more media persons joined in, breaking the security cordon,” it read.
The FIR went further to add, “When Atiq was speaking, two media persons — one who was carrying a mic and another carrying a camera — left their equipment, whipped out pistols and opened fire. It all happened within a few seconds.”
Also read: Atiq & Ashraf’s shooters used ‘Turkish-made pistols, may have been hired by powerful gang’
Links with ISI
The FIR also mentions that Atiq had given a statement admitting to his links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
“In a statement, Atiq said that he had links with LeT and ISI. He said that an arms dealer who also arranges weapons for LeT supplied him weapons that came via drones from across the border. These included a 45 bore pistol, an AK-47, sten gun, RDX that came via Punjab border,” the FIR said.
According to the FIR, Atiq told the police that he could take them to the weapons dealer associated with the ISI, who at times arranged weapons even for his gang. He also allegedly told the police that these were the same weapons used to kill Umesh Pal.
“In his statement, he said there were no house numbers of arms dealer’s hideouts but both he and Ashraf knew the locations. That is why, for further investigation in the case, their custody was sought,” said the source mentioned earlier.
The FIR further stated that Atiq and Ashraf were in police remand from 13 April till 5 pm on 17 April. However, the police couldn’t interrogate them on 14 April as they were mourning the killing of Asad, one of Atiq’s sons, who along with his accomplice Ghulam was killed in a “police encounter” in Jhansi Thursday.
The FIR added that the brothers had been complaining about their health, for which the police first took them to Moti Lal Nehru hospital in Prayagraj on 13 April.
“On April 13, the media had gathered around them, posing questions. We got them checked and they were taken back to Dhoomanganj police station,” read the FIR.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read: ‘It was over in 30 seconds’ — eyewitnesses recall fatal attack on Atiq Ahmed, Ashraf in Prayagraj