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'If murdered…': Atiq Ahmad's mystery letter sent to Yogi Adityanath, CJI Chandrachud
Atiq Ahmad news: A former Lok Sabha MP, Atiq Ahmad was an accused in the February murder of lawyer Umesh Pal and the 2005 killing of BSP lawmaker Raju Pal.
A letter by Atiq Ahmad - the gangster-politician shot dead in the custody of Uttar Pradesh Police - is on its way to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, his lawyer said Tuesday morning. "That letter in a sealed envelope is neither with me nor sent by me. It is kept somewhere else and being sent by some other person," Vijay Mishra, the lawyer, said.
"I don't know the contents of the letter. Atiq Ahmad had said that if there were any mishap, or if he was murdered, the letter in the sealed envelope should be sent to the Chief Justice of India and Uttar Pradesh chief minister," he added.
News of the dispatch of Atiq Ahmad's letter comes a day after Mishra told news agency ANI the gangster-politician's brother Ashraf - shot and killed in the same incident - told him it contains the name of a senior police official who boasted the brothers 'will be taken out of jail and eliminated'.
READ | 'If I'm murdered a sealed envelope...': What Atiq Ahmad's brother said
"While being taken from Prayagraj to Bareilly… a senior police official told him (Ashraf) he survived this time but would be taken out of jail within 15 days and eliminated… I asked Ashraf about the police official. He didn't disclose his name as he felt I (Mishra) would be in trouble," the lawyer said.
READ | '2 hafte baad…': Ashraf shot dead days after he predicted his death
Mishra told ANI Ashraf had told him a 'sealed envelope' would be delivered to the chief justices of the Supreme Court and the Allahabad High Court.
A copy will also be sent to the chief minister of UP, he said.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were murdered on live TV Saturday while being taken for a 'routine medical check-up' past 10 pm.
READ | Atiq Ahmad shot nine times; brother Ashraf five times, once in face
They were shot by three men who posed as journalists and fired multiple times - two of three weapons used were reportedly imported from Turkey.
All this took place in the middle of a large number of on-duty police personnel. The shooters then made no attempt to flee and were detained immediately.
They have since been transferred to a different jail on 'administrative' grounds.
The UP government - which has been severely criticised over the incident - has set up a three-member judicial committee to investigate Atiq Ahmad's murder, which will be also investigated by the equally fiercely criticised state police.
The reports are due within two months.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a plea for an independent inquiry into 183 'encounters' that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh over the past six years, including that of Atiq Ahmad and his son Asad, who was gunned down by UP Police's Special Task Force last week in a 'special operation' near Jhansi.
Atiq and Asad are among the accused in the murder of Umesh Pal in February. Pal was a witness to the murder of a Bahujan Samaj Party leader in 2005.
