India: Former MP, Atiq Ahmed, brother shot dead on live TV

A former Indian politician, Atiq Ahmed convicted of kidnapping has been shot dead live on TV along with his brother, Ashraf Ahmed.

The BBC reports that Ahmed who was under police protection was seen talking to reporters when a gun was pulled close to his head in Prayagraj, also known as Allahabad.

After the shots were fired, three men who had been posing as journalists quickly surrendered and were taken into custody.

According to the Police, the three suspected assailants had arrived at the site on motorcycles. A policeman and a journalist were also injured at the scene.

Ahmed’s teenage son was shot dead by police days earlier.

Dozens of cases, including kidnapping, murder and extortion, were registered against Atiq Ahmed over the past two decades.

A local court sentenced him and two others to life in jail in March this year in a kidnapping case.

The video showed Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, both in handcuffs, speaking to journalists on the way to a medical check-up at a hospital seconds before they were both shots.

In the footage, shared widely on social media and TV channels, Ahmed is asked whether he attended his son’s funeral.

His last words were, “They did not take us, so we did not go.”

Ahmed had previously claimed there was a threat to his own life from the police.

Following Saturday night’s incident, Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath ordered a judicial probe into the killings and banned large gatherings in the districts of Uttar Pradesh state to ensure peace.

 

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