Charges to be framed against Atiq’s assailants after Aug 16

PRAYAGRAJ: A sessions court will frame charges after August 16 against the three accused who allegedly shot dead gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on April 15 in Prayagraj.

According to district government counsel (criminal) Gulab Chandra Agrahri, though this date was fixed for framing of charges against the accused, but when the accused appeared before the court through video conferencing, they requested that they wanted to engage their own counsel in the case.

Accepting their request, sessions judge Santosh Rai said if they do not engage their counsel by August 16, they will be provided state counsel to represent them in court proceedings.

On July 13, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had submitted a charge sheet against the three assailants -- Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit Singh Shani, 23, and Arun Maurya, 18 -- who are currently lodged at thr Pratapgarh district jail.

The SIT, which was constituted to investigate this murder case, submitted the charge sheet before Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Dinesh Kumar Gautam after completing its investigation under Section 302 (murder) and several other sections of the IPC and Arms Act.

The trio had allegedly shot dead Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on April 15 at around 10 p.m., when they were being taken for a medical examination at Colvin Hospital of Prayagraj, as a mandatory legal requirement.

The assailants posed as journalists and shot the brothers from point-blank range.

The shooters had immediately surrendered after the killing and were arrested.