5 cops suspended in connection with Atiq Ahmed's murder

CHENNAI: Four police officials including the station officer of Shahganj Police Station in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj were suspended for 'negligence' while taking gangsters Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf for a medical checkup on April 15 night when they were killed, police said on Wednesday.

The SO who was suspended was identified as Ashwani Kumar Singh.

The Special Investigation Team constituted by the police had questioned all the police personnel yesterday after which the police action was taken on the basis of the SIT report.

Atiq and Ashraf were killed on April 15 night while being taken for a medical checkup.

They were shot dead at point-blank range by three miscreants posing as mediapersons with whom the two gangsters were interacting.

They were killed in the presence of the police. Earlier today, a CJM court in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj on Wednesday remanded gangster Atiq Ahmed's killers to four-day police custody. This comes after the Special Investigation Team filed an application in the court seeking remand for questioning for all three accused.

They were earlier sent to 14-day judicial custody by the district court on April 16. During the police remand, the police will question the accused, who were identified as Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari, about the weapon they used to kill Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf on April 15 night, where did they get the weapon from and who gave it to them.

The police will also seek to know the reason for the murder of the gangsters. All three accused will again be presented in court on April 23.

Earlier today, they were brought to the court amid tight security. Earlier, the three assailants were shifted from Prayagraj's Naini Central Jail to the Pratapgarh district jail on Monday.

"All three shooters, Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari, are under threat of attack behind bars, owing to which they have been shifted to a high-security cell and are kept under CCTV surveillance," official sources said.

On April 16, the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf took place at a family graveyard in the Kasari Masari area of Prayagraj.

(With inputs from ANI)