NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday informed the Supreme Court that the officials who were present at the spot where gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead have been suspended pending initiation of disciplinary proceedings. The SHO under whose jurisdiction the crime was committed has also been suspended.
The brothers were shot at point-blank range in April this year while they were being escorted by police personnel for a medical checkup.
“State is also inquiring into security lapses that may have led to the three attackers getting through the police cordon and firing at Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. On the basis of prima facie reports from the relevant ACPs, 4 of the police officers present on the scene and the SHO of PS Shahganj, under whose jurisdiction the incident took place, has been suspended pending initiation of disciplinary proceedings. The inquiry in this regard is in progress,” the UP government has said in an affidavit in a plea seeking a court-monitored probe into the incident.
The affidavit has been filed in compliance with the SC’s order passed by the bench of Justices SR Bhat and Dipankar Datta asking the state to file a comprehensive status report with regard to the steps taken to inquire into the death Atiq brothers and on encounter killing of Atiq’s son Asad.
With a view to investigating how the incident happened, the UP government has stated in the affidavit the state immediately set up a three-member judicial inquiry commission on April 16, 2023.
“The State is also conducting its own investigation. A three-member special investigation team (SIT) was constituted by the Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, headed by Additional DCP Crime (Additional Superintendent of Police) for the investigation of the case ….” the affidavit stated.
The affidavit states that Police reforms and modernisation measures are underway across the State and that handcuffing instructions have been issued to prevent the easy escape of hardened criminals.