Explained: Why Atiq Ahmed’s killing was a death foretold
BJP leaders openly made remarks about the gangster-politician being killed, either by the police or in an ‘accident’. The SC ignored his plea for protection.
Former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three alleged assailants in the presence of police officials as they were being taken to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Saturday.
Their killing, captured on camera, follows comments by politicians and leaders from the state’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party insinuating that this could happen and weeks of speculation by television news channels and social media users.
Only days earlier, Ahmed’s son Asad and an aide were killed in a “gunfight” with the Uttar Pradesh Police in Jhansi on April 13. Ahmed, too, had moved the Supreme Court seeking protection from “death threats”.
Allusions to an encounter
A former Lok Sabha member from the Samajwadi Party, Atiq Ahmed faced around 100 criminal cases.
The latest was the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal, who was a witness in the killing of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal in 2005. Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24. Days later, Uttar Pradesh Police booked Ahmed, his wife Sahista Parveen, two of their sons, Ashraf, among others, for Pal’s murder.
On February 25, Adityanath vowed action against Ahmed while speaking in the Legislative Assembly. He said: “Iss house mein keh raha hoon, iss mafia ko mitti me mila denge. I am saying this in the House, we...