PRAYAGRAJ: The three attackers who
killed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf said that they committed the crime to "become popular".
The assailants, who were arrested after they voluntarily turned themselves in after
shooting Atiq and his brother while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj, have confessed to crime, reported ANI.
Live updates: Atiq Ahmed, brother shot dead"We wanted to kill Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf with the aim of completely wiping out the Atiq-Ashraf gang and making a name for ourselves," the FIR quoted the arrested assailants as telling the police.
The FIR further stated that, "The moment we received an update about Atiq and Ashraf being taken into police custody, we planned to kill them by posing as local journalists and blending with the crowd.
The two shooters and an associate were taken into custody by police at the crime scene itself.
They were identified as Luvlesh Tiwari, Sunny and Arun Maurya, though other names were also being bandied about.
Atiq Ahmad was accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, as well as in the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP leader's murder, in February this year.
The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they
were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm on Saturday.
The horrifying visuals were circulated widely on social media platforms and television channels.
The last rites of Ahmad's son Asad, who was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were performed here just hours before the shooting.
Meanwhile, BSP national president Mayawati said that it will be better if the Supreme Court takes cognizance of this incident on its own and take appropriate action.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Ahmad and his brother.
(With agency inputs)