HYDERABAD: Expressing suspicion over the way UP gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad Ahmad and his aide Ghulam Mohammed were killed in an “encounter” by the special task force of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday wondered whether the UP police lacked the skill to investigate the murders of former BSP MLA Raju Pal and Umesh Pal. He also wondered if the UP police had killed the duo in a fake encounter as they lacked solid evidence against the accused.
Addressing the media here, Owaisi reiterated his unfettered stand against fake police encounters, and opined that “this so-called encounter shouldn’t have happened”.
“They have been showing pictures of who they claimed was the accused. If they had the video of the attack, they could have tried him in court and brought him to justice,” he said.
Also citing the observations of a crime reporter on the contents of the FIR with regard to encounter, Owaisi said that there was no scope of the two-wheeler travelling at 15-20 km per hour on that route, and that the FIR mentioned that the police came from the front and rear side, and in reality there was a wall on the rear side, from where the police couldn’t have approached.
He alleged that the vehicle had no chassis number and that it was cleaned and taken to the police station, and that the accused neither travelled in disguise, nor did he wear a helmet, which was strange.
“Every act of violence and murder needs to be condemned. But due to such encounters, the people’s faith in the Constitution and the rule of law will be diminished. With fake encounters, justice will not be served, but vigilante justice will prevail. You want to do the work of a judge, but there are CRPC and IPC, which will be forgotten due to such acts. The people will lose faith in democracy,” the AIMIM chief reminded.