Lucknow: Following Atiq Ahmed’s murder, the three attackers have been identified by the police as Lovlesh Tewari, Sunny Singh, and Arun Maurya, who shot Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf at point-blank range while they were speaking to reporters in Prayagraj.
Here’s your 10-point guide to Atiq Ahmed murder:
1- Yogi Adityanath administration has sent a report to the Home Ministry detailing yesterday’s event following a high-level meeting between the Chief Minister and Sanjay Prasad, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home), along with other senior members of the UP Police. All District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police are participating in a significant meeting that the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh is holding via video conference in Lucknow. In contrast to prior claims, police have not yet been the target of any legal action.
2- Lovelesh Tewari was jailed earlier as well. His father told the media that the family has nothing to do with him. Lovelesh visited home at times, and was in Banda five-six days back as well, the father said.
3- “He is my son. We saw the incident on TV. We are not aware of the actions of Lovelesh nor do we have anything to do with this. He never lived here, and neither was he involved in our family affairs. He did not tell us anything. He came here five to six days ago. We have not been on talking terms with him for years. There is already a case registered against him. He was jailed in that case,” Yagya Tiwari, Lovelesh’s father, said.
4- “He doesn’t work. He was a drug addict. We have four children. We have nothing to say about this,” Yagya Tiwari added. Lovelesh was shot in the leg during cross-firing by the three shooters, he is being treated at a Prayagraj hospital.
5- Since being designated a history-sheeter, Sunny, who is wanted in 14 instances, has been hiding out. After selling his portion of the family’s land after learning that his father had passed away, he left home. For more than five years, Sunny hasn’t seen his mother or brother. He has a tea shop with his brother.
6- “He used to wander around and did no work. We live separately and don’t know how he became a criminal. We have no idea about the incident,” Pintu Singh, brother of shooter Sunny Singh, said.
7- The third shooter, Arun, had left home as a child. His name appeared in connection with the murder of a policeman on a train in 2010, sources said. He worked at a factory in Delhi. The three were staying at a lodge in Prayagraj.
8- The accused told the police during questioning that they wanted to become notorious criminals, which is why they murdered Atiq, though the police don’t believe their confession yet, sources said. There are gaps in their testimonies, and the police will continue investigating, they said. “We wanted to kill Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf with the aim of completely wiping off the Atiq-Ashraf gang and making a name for ourselves,” the FIR quoted the arrested assailants as telling the police.
9- “The moment we received an update about Atiq and Ashraf being taken into police custody, we planned to kill them by posing as local journalists and blending with the crowd,” the FIR in the case said. They were carrying three fake media identity cards, a camera, and mic.
10- The dramatic on-camera killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in their custody last night have drawn harsh criticism, but the Uttar Pradesh Police have so far kept quiet about the tragedy. In several parts of Prayagraj, internet service has been halted.
