LUCKNOW: The murder of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody by three men posing as journalists was neither a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ nor a case of ‘police negligence’, says the report of the judicial commission formed to investigate the incident which took place under media glare in Prayagraj on the night of April 15, 2023.The commission’s report was tabled in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on the last day of the monsoon session on Thursday.Headed by a retired Allahabad High Court Judge Justice Arvind Kumar Tripathi, the five-member commission was tasked to probe the murder of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in police custody while being taken for a routine medical check-up.The commission in its report concluded: “The incident of April 15, 2023 in which accused Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who were on police custody remand in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case under Police Station Shahganj, Prayagraj, were shot dead by three assailants cannot be said to be the result of a pre-planned conspiracy executed by the State Police.”Giving a clean chit to police authorities, the probe commission said: “The incident of April 15, 2023 in which accused Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were killed was not the result of police negligence nor was it possible for them to avoid the incident.”Considering that the three assailants who shot Atiq and Ashraf dead posed as journalists, the commission also suggested that the media “observe certain restraints while covering such incidents.”
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