Atiq-Ashraf Murder: Prayagraj Court Sends All Three Shooters To 4-Day Police Custody

All the three accused shooters in the murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf have been sent to four-day police custody by Prayagraj CJM court.

(from left) Arun Maurya, Sunny Purane, Lavlesh Tiwari, the three accused shooters in the murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf

Source : PTI File Photo

The Prayagraj court has sent three accused shooters in Atiq-Ahmed murder case to four days of police custody. The three shooters — Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj — were brought to Prayagraj this morning from Pratapgarh jail and produced before the court of chief judicial magistrate amid heavy police presence to seek remand for questioning. 

The 60-year old gangster-turned-politician, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were handcuffed when they were shot dead by the assailants posing as journalists on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a check-up.

The mafia brothers were killed just hours after Atiq's son Asad, shot dead in a police encounter, was buried in his ancestral Kasari Masari graveyard in Prayagraj's Chakia area. 

At the time when the assailants open fire at the mafia brothers, one of the shooters Lavlesh Tiwari was also reported to have been hit by a bullet and sustain injuries. He was hit by a fellow miscreant and was taken to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital in Prayagraj where he received treatment. 

Following the incident, a case was registered against the three assailants under sections 302 (punishment for murder), 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC, Arms Act and Criminal Law Amendment Act. The arms used in the crime were also recovered from the spot.

As per reports, one of the shooters had semi-automatic pistol, Ziagana made by Turkish firearm manufacturing company TİSAŞ and prohibited in India.  

Atiq, who was lodged in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Jail was brought to Prayagraj for hearing in the Umesh Pal murder case in which he was named as an accused. He was already given life sentence in Umesh Pal kidnapping case. 

Umesh Pal, a key witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder, also in which Atiq was an accused, was shot dead along with his security personnel in February this year outside his residence under the limits of Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj.