A former Indian parliamentarian convicted of kidnapping and accused of murder was shot dead along with his brother in a dramatic attack that was caught live on television cameras in northern India, authorities said Sunday.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were being escorted by police on their way to a medical examination on Saturday night when they were shot
by three men posing as journalists
in Prayagraj, a town in Uttar Pradesh state.
The assailants turned themselves in after the attack, with at least one shouting "Jai Shri Ram" ("Praise Lord Ram"), a slogan that has become a rallying cry for Hindu nationalists in their campaign against Muslims.
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The state of Uttar Pradesh, the most populous in India, has been led by the Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata party, which also governs the country, since 2017. Since then, more than 180 people under criminal proceedings have been killed in so-called "police encounters". , which according to activists are extrajudicial adjustments.
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Following the attack, state authorities
banned gatherings of more than four people
and cut off internet access to cell phones in the town of Prayagraj.
The government has ordered an investigation into the case, which will be led by a retired judge.
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A police officer, Ramit Sharma, revealed that
the assailants had come on motorbikes
, posing as journalists.
“They came close to Atiq and his brother under the pretext of recording their statement and shot them at close range.
Both were shot in the head.
It all happened in a matter of seconds,” he said.
Police in the area where former Indian lawmaker Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were killed, in Prayagraj, India, on April 15, 2023. Rajesh Kumar Singh / AP
The attack was broadcast live by television cameras and the videos are now viral on social networks.
Ahmad accumulated a hundred criminal cases against him, including assault and murder;
His popularity reached notoriety in the 1990s, when he began a political career that led him to occupy a seat in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament or Lok Sabha.