Owaisi compares Atiq Ahmed’s killer with Godse

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who has been critical of the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf during police custody while being taken to a hospital for medical checkup in Prayagraj, on Friday compared the accused of the sensational killing with Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi.

The AIMIM MP questioned why the Uttar Pradesh Police did not invoke the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act against the accused of killing of Ahmed brothers.

Addressing a gathering here, Owaisi said, "People in police custody were killed. The people who killed them were terrorists and this is a terror module. They might kill more people. Why did they not invoke UAPA on those who killed them? Who gave automatic weapons to the killers? Who gave Rs 8 lakhs worth of weapons to them?

"They are radicalized and walking in the footsteps of Godse. They must be stopped else they will kill more people," he added. The Judicial committee constituted by the Uttar Pradesh government visited Prayagraj on Thursday while the Special Investigation Team recreated the crime scene where gangsters Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on April 15 while being taken to a hospital for a medical checkup.

Three friends of Lovelesh Tiwari, the main accused in the sensational killing of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed, were detained by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in Uttar Pradesh's Banda.

"The trio were caught at Banda railway station," officials said. The SIT team also reached Hamirpur and Kasganj to conduct the further probe.

Uttar Pradesh Police conducted raids in search of Shaista Parveen, wife of Atiq Ahmed, in Kaushambi on Wednesday.

"Raids were conducted in search of Shaista Parveen, wife of gangster Atiq Ahmed. A search operation was conducted after receiving information about some criminals hiding. The operation lasted for about 2 hours. A drone camera was also used in operation. However, the operation did not prove successful today," Samar Bahadur, ASP, Kaushambi told ANI.Atiq Ahmed was accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, as well as in the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP leader's murder, in February this year.

As many as three people were arrested and identified as Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari. All three attackers were apprehended at the scene after they voluntarily turned themselves in. They have been kept in the custody of the police and questioned. On Wednesday, a CJM court in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj 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. The district court sent them to 14-day judicial custody on April 16.During the police remand, the police will question the accused 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.

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