India Mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother shot dead on TV. Shooter says "Wanted to become famous."

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants in Prayagraj on the night of April 15, Saturday.

The two brothers were reportedly being taken for a medical checkup and was escorted by about a dozen police personnel.

However, three men who were reportedly disguised as journalist/ media persons on the pretext of recording a news byte got near to the duo and fired at them from close range.

The former Samajwadi Party MP, 62, was killed hours after the last rites of his son Asad Ahmed, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi two days ago.

The shooting took place around 10:30 p.m. and since the mediapersons were trying to get a news byte from the duo, the shoot was captured live on camera and its viral on social media.

According to reports, Ahmed and his brother sustained bullet injuries to the head and were declared dead by doctors later in the night.

The U.P. police detained three alleged assailants, identified as Luvlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya and Sunny, on the spot and seized three firearms. One of the shooters was heard shouting the slogan, ‘Jai Shri Ram’, as he was being apprehended by the police.

“During questioning, the accused told us that they wanted to kill Atiq and Ashraf to become famous. The accused said they were sure they would benefit in future,” said an officer.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath called for a high-level meeting at his residence and ordered for a probe by a three-member judicial committee.

While opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav has slammed the Yogi Adityanath government over failures of law and order in the state.

“Crime has reached its peak in U.P. and the morale of the criminals is high,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi. “When someone can be killed in firing openly amidst the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public. Due to this, an atmosphere of fear is being created among the public, it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere,” he added.

The Bahujan Samaj Party alleged that such an incident could not have happened without approval “from the top”. In a tweet, BSP Lok Sabha MP Kunwar Danish Ali said, “Cold blooded murder of Ateeq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf is the height of anarchy in Uttar Pradesh! This can’t happen without a go ahead from the top. In any other democracy the state government must have been dismissed for such a heinous crime against the rule of law.”

On February 25, Responding to Akhilesh Yadav’s allegation that the murder of Umesh Pal symbolised the failure of law and order in the State, U.P. CM Adityanath had asserted in the State Assembly, “ Mafia ko mitti mei mila denge (we will destroy the criminals).“

Former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Atiq Ahmed was recently convicted in a kidnapping case. He was also an accused in two high-profile cases including the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal and the February 2023 murder of Umesh Pal, who was a witness in the Raju Pal murder case.

(With inputs from The Hindu)