New Delhi: Reacting sharply to the killing of gangster-turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed last week, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday said those who killed the Ahmed brothers are walking in the footsteps of Nathuram Godse who killed Mahatma Gandhi and if they are not stopped now, they will go on to kill other people.
Owaisi also questioned why didn’t the Uttar Pradesh government invoke UAPA against the three accused.
“People in police custody were killed. The people who killed them were terrorists and they run a terror module. They might kill more people. Why didn’t they (UP government) invoke UAPA on those who killed them? Who gave automatic weapons to the killers? Who gave Rs 8 lakhs worth of weapons to them? They are radicalized and walking in the footsteps of Godse. They must be stopped else they will kill more people,” news agency ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.
Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed by three men posing as mediapersons when they were being taken for a medical check-up at Colvin hospital in UP’s Prayagraj last Saturday.
Demanding Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's resignation, Owaisi had earlier accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state of having a role in the shooting and called for an investigation into the incident under the supervision of the Supreme Court stating that no officer from UP should be involved in the probe.
"The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is not running the government by the rule of law. The government is running with the rule of the gun," Owaisi said.
The AIMIM chief said the killing of Atiq Ahmed and his brother in Prayagraj was a "cold-blooded" murder and questioned how did the three miscreants get those weapons and why were they allegedly chanting religious slogans after the shooting.