The Supreme Court on April 18 agreed to hear on April 24 a petition seeking an independent probe by a body headed by a retired apex court judge into the public killings of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in full view of TV cameras in Uttar Pradesh.
The petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari was mentioned for an urgent hearing before Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
Mr. Tiwari has also sought an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
Ahmed (60) and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were shot dead by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters’ queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj for a checkup on April 15 night.
Just hours before the shooting, the last rites of Ahmed’s son Asad, who along with one of his associates, was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13, were held.
U.P. Police had said on April 14 that it had gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters in the six years of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government and this included Asad and his accomplice.
“Issue guidelines/directions to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) and also to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf,” the petition said.
