New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police have killed jailed gangster Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad in an “encounter” in Jhansi. Another man named Ghulam, an accused in the same murder case as Atiq and Asad, was also killed by the police. According to ANI, the encounter was carried out by a UP Special Task Force team led by Deputy SP Navendu and Deputy SP Vimal, and the team killed the two after Asad and Ghulam opened fire on the police.The police had been on the lookout for the two after Umesh Pal’s murder, and they each carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh, ANI reported.The police claimed they found “sophisticated weapons, new cellphones and SIM cards” in the two’s possession, NDTV reported. “A total of 42 rounds were fired during the encounter at Babina road in Jhansi,” the channel stated.Atiq, a former MP and MLA, was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by an MP-MLA court in an abduction case last month.The abduction case goes back to July 2007, when Atiq and his aides were accused of kidnapping and torturing Umesh Pal, who was the primary witness in a murder case in which Atiq was allegedly involved. Umesh Pal and two of his bodyguards were murdered in broad daylight in Allahabad in February this year, leading to a huge uproar in the UP assembly. Atiq is also the main accused in the murder of Umesh Pal.Both Asad and Ghulam were wanted in the same murder case. The police have claimed that Asad played a pivotal role in coordinating Pal’s murder, The Times of India reported.Earlier, two of Atiq’s alleged aides, accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, were killed in separate encounters by the Uttar Pradesh Police.Atiq was a former gangster who became a politician. He served as both an MP and an MLA and is said to have close links with many political parties in UP, including the BJP and Samajwadi Party.Atiq has more than 100 cases registered against him. It has been alleged that Atiq, who was lodged in the Deoria prison, planned Umesh Pal’s murder remotely in February.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath had said in the state assembly that the SP has fostered crimes such as the killing of Umesh Pal and vowed to “drag them to the ground.”Atiq was transferred to Sabarmati jail in Gujarat for security reasons after Umesh Pal’s murder.On Thursday, Atiq and his brother Ashraf were produced before a chief judicial magistrate in Prayagraj pertaining to the murder case.In March, BJP leader and former MP Harinarayan Rajbhar had said that Atiq should be brought out of jail and killed in an encounter.Ever since the BJP government led by Adityanath came to power in Uttar Pradesh, they have made it clear the police can perform ‘encounter killings’ whenever they like and as they see fit, and will even be encouraged to do so. Atiq had earlier approached the Supreme Court, saying that he feared he would be killed in a fake encounter like Vikas Dubey.In March, Prayagraj administration in Uttar Pradesh demolished a house in which Atiq’s wife and children were living on rent.Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has hit out at the Adityanath government and the police, saying Asad was killed in a “fake encounter”. “With fake encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from the real issues. The BJP does not believe in courts at all. Today’s and recent encounters should also be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. Those in power do not have the right to decide what is right or wrong. BJP is against harmony,” Yadav tweeted in Hindi.
