Atiq-Ashraf Murder: Shahganj SHO Ashwani Kumar Singh Among Five Suspended After SIT Questioning

Ashwani Kumar Singh was questioned along with all other police personnel Tuesday, after which action was taken based on the SIT report.

Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point blank range.

Source : PTI

Five police officers, including the Station House Officer (SHO) of Shahganj police station, have been suspended following the murder of mafia boss Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf while in police custody.

The suspensions were handed down due to negligence on the part of the officers. Along with SHO Ashwani Singh, two sub-inspectors and two police constables were also suspended.

The action was taken following an investigation that found non-vigilance and negligence at the spot where the brothers were killed while in police custody. 

Earlier today, the three persons accused of killing gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were produced in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) in Prayagraj on Wednesday morning.

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. 

The Prayagraj court has sent three accused shooters in the Atiq-Ahmed murder case to four days of police custody. 

Atiq Ahmed, 60, and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews. The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels. The last rites of Ahmad's son Asad, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were performed here just hours before the shooting.

An FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Arms Act was registered against the three alleged assailants of Atiq and Ashraf at Shahganj police station.

On Sunday, these three accused were produced before the remand magistrate who sent them to judicial custody for 14 days. They were initially lodged in Naini jail but were shifted to Pratapgarh prison citing security reasons.

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

Umesh Pal, a key witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder, also in which Atiq was an accused.