PRAYAGRAJ/LUCKNOW Even 40 days after the sensational killing of mafioso-politician Atiq Ahmed and his younger brother Khalid Azeem (aka Ashraf) in Prayagraj, police continue to hold on to its initial theory that the three assailants shot down the mafia brothers in full public view only to make a name for themselves in the underworld. This is despite sceptics questioning this theory and speaking of a deeper conspiracy behind the double murder.
To recall, the three shooters — Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Mohit alias Sunny Puraney (23), and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) — had immediately surrendered after the double murder. Following the incident on April 15, police had lodged an FIR against the three. The FIR stated that the accused carried out the killing to earn a name in the underworld. Strangely, police made this conclusion even before the setting up of the special investigation team (SIT), the three-member supervisory team to oversee the SIT probe, and the five-member judicial commission. Besides, there has been little headway in the sensational killings, except for the recovery of two mobile phones and four SIM cards from the accused.
At present, the three-member SIT team — headed by Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, Satish Chandra and having Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kotwali police station) Satyendra Prasad Tiwari and Inspector (Investigation Cell of Crime Branch) Om Prakash as members — is investigating the sensational murders of Atiq and Ashraf, who were gunned down while being taken for a court-mandated medical examination at Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital. A day after the killing, this SIT was set up by Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma.
Simultaneously, a high-level supervision team set up by U.P. DGP RK Vishwakarma is also overseeing and guiding the probe — being undertaken by the SIT — with a mandate to get the investigation done along with collection of evidence as well verifiable proofs. The SIT is also entrusted with ensuring the analysis of circumstantial as well as digital/technical and scientific evidence.
Meanwhile, a five-member judicial commission is also probing the incident. The panel, initially set up as a three-member commission, later included two more members. It has former Allahabad high court judge Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi, former judge Brijesh Kumar Soni, former U.P. DGP Subesh Kumar Singh, former Allahabad High Court chief justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale, and former Jharkhand high court chief justice Virendra Singh. The commission is now being headed by justice Dilip Babasaheb Bhosale.
Since its formation, the SIT has recreated the crime scene. It has also taken four-day custody remand of the three assailants, along with recording statements of eyewitnesses and medical staff at the hospital. However, SIT officials still appear uncertain over a few questions regarding the murder of the mafia brothers which remain unanswered.
The questions that remain unanswered include — how the assailants were aware when will police bring mafia brothers for medical examination to Colvin Hospital; how were they aware of the exact spot where mafia brothers were to be brought, why did the killers not open fire on Atiq and Ashraf outside the hospital itself, why the shooters took the risk of shooting from close range when cops on duty may have opened fire on them in retaliation.
Moreover, officials are still to learn how the three assailants managed to conspire to kill Atiq and Ashraf with no outside support. As per investigation, one of the assailants, Sunny was not even using a mobile phone and this raises the question as to how he managed to make contact with the other two assailants — Lavlesh and Arun, who are from different places.
SIT officials had earlier claimed to have recovered two mobile phones and four SIM cards from the accused shooters. The accused broke the SIM cards before they reached Prayagraj. Even as these questions are still to be answered, SIT may soon submit a charge sheet before the court while continuing the ongoing investigations.
Matter still under investigation
Probe into the incident continues even as Atiq’s relatives in Chakia and Kasari Masari localities observe ‘chaliswa’ — mourning period following a death in Islamic tradition. It is expected that related rituals may also be performed at Ashraf’s in-laws house in Hatwa village.
A named FIR against the three nabbed assailants who gunned down the mafia duo was registered at the Shahganj police station on April 16, a day after the murder of the two brothers. In the FIR lodged under relevant sections of the IPC, SHO Dhumanganj Rajesh Kumar Maurya has said that the assailants approached Atiq and Ashraf as mediapersons on their way to the medical examination at the Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital. Before anyone could react, the three assailants opened fire using sophisticated firearms on Atiq and Ashraf from close range. All three assailants, along with their weapons, were nabbed from the site itself.
The FIR also mentions that during the interrogation, the three assailants confessed to killing Atif and Ashraf to “wipe out their gang and make a name for themselves”. The accused added that they failed to gauge the security arrangements in place and therefore, could not flee the scene and got caught. The three assailants also informed that they had been following Atiq and Ashraf, along with the media crowd, since the mafia duo was sent to police remand.
Notably, one of the assailants, Sunny, told police that he got two sophisticated firearms — Girsan and Jigana pistols — from the Jitendra Gogi gang of Delhi for killing rival gangster Tillu Tajpuria. He also claimed that the idea of posing as media persons was also given by the Gogi gang. Earlier, Sunny had fled the spot with firearms after Gogi was killed in a shootout at Rohini Court in 2021. However, officials said that there are many loopholes in their statement and hence, they may be questioned again.
