The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a petition seeking a probe into the killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf. The case will be heard on April 24.
The petition has also sought an inquiry into extra-judicial killings in Uttar Pradesh.
Ahmed and Ashraf, in handcuffs, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when they were addressing media personnel while being escorted by the police to a hospital for a medical checkup in Praayagraj on Saturday.
The last rites of Ahmed's son Asad, who was among two men gunned down by the police in an encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were held just hours before the former MP and his brother's killing.
The petition filed in the Supreme Court seeks an independent expert committee to probe the murders.
"Issue guidelines/directions to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) and also to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf," the petition read.
"Such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to a police state," the petition stated, referring to extra-judicial killings.
Advertisement"In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary."
The Uttar Pradesh Police claimed on Friday that in the six years of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's rule in the state, 183 criminals have been killed in encounters, including Asad and his associate.
AdvertisementThe three killers of Ahmed and his brother twere identified by the police as Lovelesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh, and Arun Maurya. The attackers, all in their twenties, shouted "Jai Shri Ram" slogans before being overpowered by the police.
The three were sent to judicial custody for 14 days after they were produced in a court over the weekend. They were initially kept in Prayagraj's Naini Jail but were transferred to Pratapgarh Jail over security concerns on Monday.
