Atiq's brother Ashraf had predicted his own death two weeks ago

The cold-blooded murder of Ahmed brothers on camera has been etched in the history of crimes that shook the nation. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf who were buried in Prayagraj yesterday (April 16). They were being taken to a medical test when they were shot at point-blank range.

Three were arrested on the spot of crime namely Luvlesh Tiwari, Arun Kumar Maurya, Mohit Singh. They have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a Prayagraj court and a three member judicial committee has been formed to investigate the matter.

The incident has opened floodgates of speculations, political warfare and theories around the murder of gangster-turned politician and his brother. Questions are being raised on the government by the Opposition about the security lapses while taking two dreaded criminals for a medical test.

Also Read | Sibal raises questions on Atiq killing, says 'art of elimination'

There are several facts leading to these speculations, one is Atiq’s brother Ashraf predicting his death just two weeks ahead of his death. On March 28, Ashraf had quoted a senior police official who threatened him of killing within two weeks.

“Kisi bahane se do hafte baad tumhe jail se nikalenge aur nipta denge. ( You will be taken out of jail for some reason and will be killed)”, Ashraf had told reporters.

This has fanned the allegations of involvement of police in the killings.

The other angle is the UP police version of things. They informed that the three killers were in the vicinity of Atiq and Ashraf posing as journalists and they suddenly took out their pistols and shot at them.

Later, the police interrogation claimed that the three killers aspired to be famous in the world of crime. The police are also investigating the probability of the trio being hired for a hit job.
The investigation has further revealed that one of the accused Luvlesh has previous cases against his name and Mohit has 14 cases lodged against him. Arun on the other hand has a murder case pending against him.

Luvlesh shot at Atiq and Mohit fired at Ashraf. The autopsy report revealed Atiq took eight bullets in his body and Ashraf had 6 bullets.

Meanwhile, the incident has taken a political turn, with Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and AIMIM leader Asaddadudin Owaisi calling it a complete collapse of law and order in the state. Bahujan Samaj Party leader Mayawati, however, did a balancing act by comparing the incident as heinous as Umesh Pal’s murder Atiq was accused of.