Atiq Ahmed killing: Human rights panel seeks report from UP Police within four weeks

The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday directed the Uttar Pradesh Police to submit a report in four weeks into the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj.

The Ahmed brothers were shot dead on April 15 from close range by three men posing as journalists while police personnel were taking them for a medical check-up.

At the time, the brothers were in police custody in connection with the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, a witness in the killing of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal in 2005. Umesh Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24. Days later, the Uttar Pradesh Police booked Ahmed, his wife Sahista Parveen, two of their sons, Ashraf, among others, for Pal’s murder.

“Encounters”, or extrajudicial executions, have risen since the Bhartiya Janata Party government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017.

In connection with the Umesh Pal murder case, the police gunned down Ahmed’s teenage son Asad and an aide in Jhansi on April 13. Two more accused in the case were also shot dead in “encounters” by the police on February 27 and March 6.

In Tuesday’s notice, the National Human Rights Commission said that it has sought a copy of the complaint and the First Information Report registered against the deceased, a copy of...

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