A year to killings of Atiq, Ashraf: Chargesheet filed against assailants, but mystery persists

PRAYAGRAJ: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to investigate the murders of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, has filed a chargesheet against the three assailants arrested from the site of the killings. Police claim that the assailants currently lodged at Chitrakoot jail committed the murders to establish a name and reputation for themselves in the crime world. However, many questions regarding the murders remain unanswered.

On April 15, mafioso-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three armed assailants while being escorted to Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional hospital by the police near Shahganj police station for a medical examination at 10:30 pm. The assailants, disguised as mediapersons, fired at the mafia brothers at close range using sophisticated firearms. The video of the shootings quickly went viral on social media platforms.

The three assailants, identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, from Banda, Mohit alias Sunny Purane, 23, and Arun Kumar Maurya, 18, from Kasganj, were arrested from the spot. Based on a complaint filed by SHO Dhumanganj Rajesh Kumar Maurya, an FIR was lodged against the three assailants at Shahganj police station on April 17 under various sections, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 120 B (conspiracy), 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (fraud), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for cheating), along with sections of the Arms Act (3/25/27) and the Criminal Law Amendment Act (7 CLA).

On April 19, five policemen including SHO of Shahganj police station Ashwani Singh were suspended for showing negligence in their duties.

Initially, the assailants were detained at Pratapgarh Jail, but they were later transferred to Chitrakoot Jail in November 2023.

Prayagraj police commissioner Ramit Sharma formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), with ADCP, crime, Satish Chandra leading the team, to investigate the case. The SIT claimed that the three assailants planned the murders themselves and did not receive help from anyone else. After 89 days, on June 13, the SIT filed a charge sheet against the three assailants. The charge sheet comprised 2,056 pages of documents, including 2,000 pages of case diary, 56 pages of the charge sheet, scientific evidence, and statements. According to the charge sheet, Lavlesh Tiwari is from Banda, Arun Maurya from Kasganj, and Sunny Singh from Hamirpur. They had past criminal records and planned to murder Atiq and Ashraf to gain fame and money. They used sophisticated firearms, provided to Sunny Singh by Delhi-based gangster Jitendra Man aka Gogi, for killing his rival, Tillu Tajpuria.

The SIT included over 200 witnesses in the case diary and charge sheet. The eyewitnesses and witnesses were mentioned separately. The eyewitnesses included 21 policemen engaged in the security of Atiq and Ashraf, 11 media personnel and more than 16 hospital personnel. The team submitted 70 CCTV footages and 15 video recordings from CCTV cameras as court evidence. The charge sheet also featured statements from the three assailants, CDR reports of mobile phones recovered from the hotel room, CCTV and video footage, statements from independent sources, scientific evidence from the crime scene, and other pertinent details.

The SIT added charges of fraud and forgery against the three accused after forged Aadhaar cards were recovered from them during their custody remand. The case diary indicated that Lavlesh and Sunny travelled to Delhi, where they met Arun Maurya.

Government counsel Gulab Chandra Agrahari said that the case was transferred from the district judge’s court to additional sessions judge Dinesh Gautam. “Hearings in the case are conducted via video conferencing, and charges against the three accused are scheduled to be framed later this month,” he said.