Atiq Ahmed killing: UP Police forms SIT to probe gangster's murder

The Uttar Pradesh Police has formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj, according to a senior official.

Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, while citing a statement issued by Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police R K Vishwakarma, said that the SIT was formed on the instructions of the Commissioner of Police of Prayagraj, reported PTI.

Moreover, in order to ensure qualitative investigation and time-bound action, a three-member team of supervisors has also been formed.

This team is headed by the additional director general of police of Prayagraj. The other two members are the commissioner of police of Prayagraj and the director of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow, the statement said.

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead when they were answering reporters' queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night.

They were shot dead by three men posing as journalists.

On Sunday, the two were buried in their ancestral village amid tight security.

Ahmed's wife Shaista Praveen, an absconding accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, did not turn up for her husband's burial.

Ahmad's son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case who fell to police bullets, was buried at the same graveyard on Saturday.

According to officials, Ahmed and Ashraf had a long criminal history.

Since 1979, 101 cases were registered against Ahmed, while 57 were lodged against Ashraf.

The first murder case against Ahmed was lodged in 1979, when he was 17 years of age. By 1985, Ahmad's terror had spread not only in Prayagraj, but to other parts of Uttar Pradesh as well.

(With PTI inputs)

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