A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the UP government, how the killers got the information that he was being taken to the hospital,
“How did they know? We’ve seen it on TV. Why wasn’t he taken in an ambulance straight from the hospital entrance? Why was he paraded?” the top court asked.
The top court was hearing a plea by advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking an independent probe into the murder of Ahmed and his brother Ashraf.
Rohatgi informed the bench that the state government is probing the incident and has constituted a three-member commission for the same. He said that the Special Investigation Team of UP Police is also probing the matter.
Rohatgi said, “This man and his entire family are involved in heinous cases for the last 30 years. This incident is particularly a gruesome one. We have caught the killers and they said that they did this to gain importance.” “
“Everyone saw the killings on television. The killers came disguised as news photographers. They had passports, they had cameras, and identity cards that were later found to be fake. There were 50 people there and more outside. That’s how they managed to kill,” Rohatgi told the bench.
The court directed the UP government to submit a status report on the steps taken after the incident.
Ateeq Ahmad (60) and Ashraf, three men posing as journalists, were shot at while he was interacting with the media when policemen were taking them to a medical college.
(with agency inputs)
Watch Atiq-Ashraf murder case: Supreme Court asks UP government, how did the killers know that both were being taken to the hospital