UP minister claims opposition parties got Atiq killed

Uttar Pradesh minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dharmpal Singh on Sunday claimed the Opposition’s involvement in the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad. Singh alleged that Ahmed was going to reveal many secrets after his arrest, which led to his killing.

Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were killed last week while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj. Atiq was accused of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP leader’s murder, in February this year.

“The truth is that the opposition is involved in getting Atiq killed. Some serious secrets were about to be revealed, that’s why the opposition got him murdered,” said Singh, the state animal husbandry and dairy development minister, who arrived here on Friday to attend the BJP workers’ conference for the Chandausi civic polls.

Three men posing as journalists opened fire at Atiq and Ashraf outside a hospital in Prayagraj while they were speaking to the mediapersons. The shooters were soon taken into police custody and were later identified as Lovelesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh, and Arun Maurya.

Earlier on Thursday, a Judicial Committee constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government visited Prayagraj, while the Special Investigation Team recreated the crime scene where Atiq and his brother were shot dead. The police team reached the hotel where Atiq’s killers had stayed before the murder for further investigation.

The SIT team has detained three friends of Lovelesh Tiwari in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda. The police said that the SIT team has also reached Hamirpur and Kasganj to conduct further investigation into the matter.