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SC to hear plea for independent probe into Atiq Ahmad, Ashraf’s killings
On March 28, the court dismissed Ahmad’s plea for protection and observed that the state machinery would take care of his protection in case of a threat to his life
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to take up on April 24 a plea seeking an independent probe into the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf while police were taking them for a routine medical examination in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Saturday.
Assailants Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit, 23, and Arun Kumar Maurya, 18, sprayed the two with bullets on the premises of a hospital as Ahmad and Ashraf were talking to the media. Policemen ring-fenced them when gunshots rang out. The murders were captured live on video.
On March 28, the court dismissed Ahmad’s plea for protection and observed that the state machinery would take care of his protection in case of a threat to his life. Ahmad approached the court last month over threats to his life.
A Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud-led bench on Tuesday took note of advocate Vishal Tiwari’s submissions after the plea was mentioned seeking an urgent hearing. The plea has also sought an inquiry into the 183 “encounters” in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on April 13 killed Atiq Ahmad’s son, Asad, and one of his associates in Jhansi. They said they have gunned down 183 alleged criminals in “encounters” since 2017.
In his plea, Tiwari cited a “severe threat to democracy and rule of law” and said in a democratic society, police cannot be allowed to become “a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing authority.” It underlined the power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary.
The plea said extrajudicial killings or fake police encounters have no place in the law. “When the police turn daredevils then the entire rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against the police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results in more crimes,” the plea said.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday constituted a three-member judicial commission to probe the killings of Ahmad and Ashraf.
A first information report (FIR) registered in the matter said the three assailants confessed that they killed Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf to wipe out their gang and make a name for themselves. The three were booked for murder, attempt to commit murder, using prohibited arms, carrying prohibited arms, and using arms without licence.
The murders raised questions about how the assailants breached the police cordon in such a high-profile case or why dozens of policemen could not stop the three assailants.
The three carried video cameras, mikes, and media identity cards to pose as journalists and were later overpowered. They used made-in-Turkey pistols for the killings.
