By Abdul Basheer: AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has criticised the central and Uttar Pradesh governments for their “inaction and failure” to charge the killers of gangster Atiq Ahmed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.
Speaking at an event in Hyderabad on Friday, Owaisi said, “They (Atiq’s killers) are terrorists. They are radicalised. The government must stop them.”
He also criticised the UP Police, saying the officers did not fire a single bullet at the shooters who killed Atiq and his brother Ashraf in their custody.
“In our country, those in handcuffs, those in police custody are being killed. When the bullets were fired, the police personnel surrounding them didn’t even fire a bullet. It seemed like they [police] came to baraat (wedding procession),” Owaisi said.
Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on April 15 while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college here for a checkup. The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of camera crews around 10 pm.
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Owaisi also questioned the source of the expensive weapons used by the killers, given that they belonged to families living in poverty.
“Each weapon the shooters used costs Rs 8 lakh. How did they get the money? These killers are trained, part of a terror cell,” the AIMIM MP said.
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“When shots were fired at me, similar ‘Jai Shri Ram slogans’ were raised,” Owaisi further said, recalling the attack on his vehicle last year. Owaisi’s car was attacked in Hapur while he was returning to Delhi after attending election-related events in western Uttar Pradesh on February 3.
“Maybe they will make another attempt to kill me, but I do not fear,” Owaisi said, urging people to not live in fear.
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