BJP minister Dharmpal Singh claims opposition got Atiq Ahmed killed
What's the story
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Uttar Pradesh Animal Husbandry & Dairying Minister Dharmpal Singh has alleged that opposition parties were behind the recent murder of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed. "The truth is that the opposition is involved in getting Atiq killed. Some serious secrets were about to be revealed, that's why the opposition got him murdered," news agency ANI quoted Singh as saying.
Context
Why does this story matter?
On April 15, three men shot Atiq and his brother Ashraf Ahmed dead outside a medical college in UP's Prayagraj in front of police personnel and the media. The brothers were accused in the high-profile Umesh Pal murder case. While the Yogi Adityanath-led government claimed to be removing the mafias from UP, it is also under scrutiny over claims that the killing was staged.
Details
UP government suspends 5 cops after Atiq's death
On Wednesday, the Adityanath government suspended five police officers for dereliction of duty in the death of the Ahmed brothers in police custody in Prayagraj. To recall, three men allegedly posing as journalists shot Atiq and Ashraf dead from point-blank range while they were talking to reporters. The police personnel at the spot apprehended the three shooters immediately after the incident, said reports.
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SIT overseeing probe into Atiq Ahmed's murder
Separately, a judicial committee formed by the state government paid a visit to Prayagraj on Thursday, while the Special Investigation Team (SIT) reportedly recreated the scene of the crime where the Ahmed brothers were shot dead from close range on April 15. Furthermore, a police team also visited the hotel where the killers had stayed before the murder for further probe.
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Accused men sent to police remand for 4 days
On Wednesday, the police presented the accused Arun Kumar Maurya, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Mohit alias Sunny Singh in court and sought a week's remand. However, the court granted a four-day remand. As per reports, the accused men didn't attempt to flee the site immediately after killing Atiq and Ashraf. Furthermore, cops also seized Zigana handguns, imported from Turkey, from them.
Further information
Details on Atiq and Ashraf's autopsy report
As per the autopsy report, Atiq was shot eight times in the back and chest and once in the head. On the other hand, his brother's body had five gunshot injuries: four on his back and one on the face. The post-mortem was videotaped in order to conduct a thorough probe into the case and was performed by a team of five doctors.