The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a detailed affidavit on the murder of gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother in custody and steps taken by the state government in the aftermath of the incident.
The court also sought a report on the police encounter of Ahmad's son Asad, who was killed by a special task force in Jhansi on April 13.
"We have seen it on TV. Why were Atiq Ahmed and his brother not taken in an ambulance to the hospital? Why were they made to walk and paraded," the court asked, according to a report by LiveLaw.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead point-blank on live television by three men posing as journalists as officials of the Uttar Pradesh Police were escorting them for a medical checkup in Prayagraj.
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The gunmen — Lovelesh Tiwari, Mohit and Arun Kumar Maurya — were immediately overpowered without much resistance. They have been charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Arms Act.
The bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea by Advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking independent inquiry into the killings of Ahmad brothers, according to the LiveLaw report.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, on behalf of the UP government, vehemently urged the bench to not issue notice, saying that the state government had been probing the deaths. "This man and his entire family are embroiled in heinous crimes for the last 30 years. It is probable that the two were killed by those whose wrath they had encountered. This is one of the angles we are looking into," Rohatgi told the bench, as per LiveLaw.
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The government also told the court that the brothers were being taken for a medical test mandated by the court. "As per orders of the court, they had to be taken for medical tests every two days. So, the press knew. We have appointed a Commission to look into the matter," it said.
The court has listed the matter again after three weeks.
