Murders of Atiq and Ashraf: SIT expected to submit charge sheet before week’s end
With the allotted 90 days quickly coming to an end, the special investigation team (SIT) established to look into the killings of gangster-politician brothers Atiq Ahmad and Khalid Azeem (Ashraf) is anticipated to submit its charge sheet.
The charge sheet against the defendants Sunny Singh, Lavlesh Tiwari, and Arun Maurya has been prepared, according to a senior police officer, and will be submitted to the court by July 15 at the latest. It should be remembered that on the evening of April 15, Atiq and his brother were shot and killed by police while under media scrutiny.
While it is claimed that the police incorporated the accounts of several witnesses, including the three accused suspects’ neighbours, in the charge sheet, certain important issues about the crime still go unanswered.
The police probe apparently does not provide any light on who plotted the killings or the participation of a fourth person in the preparation, even though the paper references the attackers’ purpose and criminal histories. Additionally, according to reports, investigators are unaware of how the three acquired the sophisticated weaponry used in the crime or where they obtained the camera and microphone they used to pass for journalists.
According to official police department sources, the SIT conducted a thorough investigation and obtained testimony from the three attackers’ neighbours, family, and acquaintances. It allegedly even talked to individuals who didn’t get along with the attackers. These claims led to the charge sheet’s description of the attackers as “aggressive.”
The sources said that the dramatic killings of Atiq and Ashraf in police custody were committed with the intention of gaining fame and wealth. The attackers are also claimed to have links with criminal organisations from western Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, including the Gogi and Sundar Bhati gangs. The attackers intended to kill Atiq and make a name for themselves, the authorities said, after seeing the media coverage of him after the murder of Umesh Pal.
The semi-automatic Zigana gun used in the crime did not provide the police much clues either. According to reports, during questioning, Sunny Singh stated that mobster Jitendra Gogi had given him the gun two years before in order to kill Tillu Tajpuria, the latter’s rival. However, when Gogi was shot dead in Delhi’s Rohini Court in 2021, Sunny ran away with the gun.
The state government has established a judicial committee in addition to the SIT to conduct an investigation into the deaths of Atiq and Ashraf. Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi, retired district judge Brajesh Kumar Soni, IPS Subesh Kumar Singh, and former chief justice of the Allahabad high court, Dilip Baba Sahab Bhosle, are all members of the judicial panel.
