Atiq Ahmed killing: 5 cops suspended, 4-day remand for accused
The Uttar Pradesh government suspended five police personnel for dereliction of duty in the death of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed in police custody in Prayagraj on Saturday. The Shahganj Police Station's Station House Officer (SHO), Ashwani Kumar Singh, was suspended, along with two sub-inspectors and two constables. Earlier, Prayagraj Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Narsingh Narayan Singh, who was present during the incident, was transferred.
Why does this story matter?
Three men shot dead Ahmed and his brother Ashraf outside a hospital in Prayagraj in front of the police and the media. Both were accused in the murder of Umesh Pal. While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's government claims to be "cleaning" the mafia from the state, it is also under scrutiny over allegations that the murder was staged.
SIT questioned all cops linked to incident
The action against the cops was based on a report by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which interviewed all personnel involved in the incident. Notably, the SIT formed to investigate the incident attempted to recreate the crime scene on Tuesday. The brothers were killed when they were talking to reporters on live television while walking to a hospital for their procedural medical check-up.
Accused sent to police remand for four days
On Wednesday, the police presented accused Lavlesh Tiwari, Mohit alias Sunny Singh, and Arun Kumar Maurya in court and requested a week's remand. The court, however, granted a four-day remand. Per reports, the three accused did not attempt to flee after the murder. The police seized Zigana handguns, imported from Turkey, from the accused. Also, no mobile phone was recovered from the accused.
Some facts in the case raise questions
While the probe is ongoing, some facts in the case have raised questions, such as the police's tacit role in the killing. It is very unlikely that the accused, all from UP, arrived in Prayagraj without mobile phones. The accused were also said to come from low-income families, which raises the question of how the seized Zigana pistols ended up in their hands.
