The Murders Of Indian Gangster-Turned Politician And His Brother Went Viral Because They Were Recorded Live

India is one of the most diverse country in the world, in terms of culture, history, and heritage. Besides that, it's also considered the a potential "new superpower" of Asia, considering its growth.

Regardless, politics is known to always involve people with power and because of that, people can play dirty.

Atique Ahmed was a gangster, before he became a politician. He was a member of the Indian Parliament and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Samajwadi Party. While he tried to put his past life behind him, Ahmed had more than 100 criminal cases registered against him, and that haunted him.

After the police seized his and his family's properties worth more than a hundred million U.S. dollars, the more recent case was Ahmed being convicted of kidnapping a witness who testified against him regarding the 2005 murder of his political rival Raju Pal.

Ahmed remained in jail until one day, during a live televised news, he was brutally murdered. His brother Khalid Azim (alias Ashraf), was also killed in the scene.

It all began on April 13, 2023, when Ahmed's son, 19-year-old Asad, was murdered in an encounter during an action in Jhansi city by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF).

Asad was a wanted man due to his connection to the Umesh Pal murder case that was being investigated as part of a wider crackdown into a land mafia operating in Uttar Pradesh.

Two days later, on April 15th, Ahmed was escorted by armed policemen for a court-mandated medical checkup at a hospital in the city of Prayagraj, also known as Allahabad. The news media were there, and flocked around him with microphones.

One of the questions he was asked, included his absence during his son's last rites.

"I wasn't taken, so I didn't go," Ahmed said.

It was during this time, that a hand holding a pistol is seen approaching Ahmed from the back. And in that split second, the gun fired at Ahmed's head at point-blank range, resulting in his instant death.

Ahmed's white turban was blown off as the gun discharges.

When everyone panicked and ran for shelter, some managed to capture the moment, where the gunman is seen emptying his bullets towards the fallen gangster. In that moment, even more gunmen are seen approaching and shooting at Ahmed.

Ashraf Ahmed was also killed in the attack.

The disturbing photos and videos have been shared on social media platforms for more than many times, that the disturbing content has gone viral.

Soon after, just when they've all done unloading all of their bullets to murder the two alleged kingpins of a local criminal organization, the killers surrendered and shouted Hindu religious chants.

Three perpetrators surrendered. They are Lovelesh Tiwari, Sunny, and Arun Maurya.

It was realized that the tree had posed as media personnel to not raise any suspicious amongst the armed officers, and in order to get close to Ahmed and Ashraf for the kill.

During the chaos, at least one policeman was wounded.

14 rounds were fired, all of which were discharged in less than half a minute.

According to autopsy reports, Atique Ahmed was hit by eight bullets. A bullet was found inside his skull, which resulted to his instant death, followed by his neck, chest and waist, respectively. As for Ashraf, he was shot in the neck, back, wrist, stomach and waist, while three bullets were recovered from his body, and two bullets ripped through him.

It was then found that the culprits were Zigana semi-automatic, polymer-frame pistols manufactured by Turkish firearm manufacturing company TISAS.

These guns are banned in India, and because of that, reports suggest that they are illegally imported through Pakistan.

"We wanted to kill gangster-turned politician Atique Ahmed and his brother Ashraf to become popular," said the three shooters.

There are reasons why many people wanted Ahmed dead. And among reasons, it's suggested that he was a controversial man is still an understatement.

Ahmed was a 60-year-old man when he was killed, was a father of five sons, and a husband to Shaista Praveen

Ahmed was born in a poor family in Prayagraj. His father was a horse-cart driver in Allahabad. The family was so poor that Ahmed was a school dropout, since his parents couldn't afford the money.

But when he grew up, Ahmed managed to amass huge amount of wealth.

With his influence and connections, Ahmed rose in power in the city of his birth, as well as beyond.

Things began in 1989, when Ahmed was elected five times as a legislator to the state assembly from the city, and was also elected to the parliament from Phulpur constituency in 2004. He was praised by many, in which he was described as the "Robin Hood," and the "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of character" who "spent lavishly to help poor people - paying for weddings, giving them money during Eid festivals, and helping poor women buy school uniforms and books for their children".

Ahmed managed to maintain his presence and influence, thanks to his politician status, and his connections with the Uttar Pradesh's underworld.

It was only after the regional Samajwadi Party severed ties with him and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in the state, that Ahmed's influence began to wane.

Things went spiraling downwards for Ahmed, when it was realized that he had a long trail of criminal cases behind him.

Ahmed was accused of kidnappings, murders, extortion and land grabs.

More than 100 cases were registered against him before he died.

It's said that the number is much larger than that, "but the victims were too afraid to lodge complaints," reports said.

But still, Atique and Ashraf were both killed during police custody, and escort.

Vikram Singh, former director general of Uttar Pradesh's state police, said that Ahmed's murder was unacceptable.

"Death in custody is bad enough, murder is worse," he said.

The murder of a high-profile person while in police custody shows how the the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party failed to bring law and order to Uttar Pradesh, said the head of the opposition Samajwadi Party.

"When someone can be killed in firing openly amidst the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public," said Akhilesh Yadav, socialist leader of India, and chief of the Samajwadi Party, in a tweet.

Fearing the possibility of violent unrest in the wake of the murders, the Uttar Pradesh government barred gatherings of more than four people across the entire state.

"The state government imposed restrictive orders after the killings of Atique Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed who were members of a large mafia involved in land grabbing and in murder cases," said a senior police official, on conditions of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with the press.

"We don’t want any form of protest to gain momentum."

The state government, which is controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, has ordered a judicial probe into this case.

Many parts of the city went empty, with even the old city's main bazaars were closed. This is very unusual, considering that the markets were usually buzzing with activity at this time of the year as Muslims welcome the festival of Eid al-Fitr.

Police vans and officers are deployed on almost every street. Internet services are down in most parts. And locals are reluctant to talk to the media or say anything about the murders.

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