Atiq Ahmed, brother Ashraf shot dead in Uttar Pradesh; 3 held

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Prayagraj, April 16, 2023: Uttar Pradesh gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were killed on Saturday night while they were being escorted by police for a medical check-up in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. (Watch Video) Ahmed was wanted in at least 100 criminal cases.

Atiq and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead while they were interacting with the media. The assailants who killed gangster-turned-politician Ahmed and his brother Ashraf came in the guise of mediapersons with one of them even carrying a mic along with an ID.

All three gunmen, identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Sunny and Arun Maurya, surrendered before the police on the spot. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired a high-level meeting immediately after the incident and constituted a three-member judicial panel to probe the killing of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf.

Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday said that shooters who killed mafia turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on Saturday night were posing as Journalists at the spot of the incident. "Shooters were posing as journalists. As Atiq reached for a check-up, they were surrounded by other journalists and got close to Atiq and his brother. One was having a camera and was posing as a cameraman. While one was roaming with a mike where it was written NCR News. Third was assisting both," police sources said.

As the visuals of Atiq Ahmed’s killing went viral on social media, many had a compelling question in mind - if the visuals were scary enough to send chills down your spine, what would have happened to those who were at the spot? 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.

One of the journalists, Pankaj Shrivastava, who was present on the spot, has now shared a first-hand account of the events that took place out of Prayagraj hospital. The journalist, who works with news agency Press Trust of India, said that many journalists who were at the crime scene suffered minor injuries. "I was at the spot. We were asking questions to Atiq Ahmed when the incident took place. Suddenly, 3-4 men came from behind and started firing. At least 15-30 rounds were fired. One of my colleagues pushed me in order to save my life," PTI journalist Pankaj Srivastava said on camera.