A former lawmaker in India’s parliament, convicted of kidnapping, was shot and killed along with his brother while police were escorting them for a medical checkup in a slaying caught on live television on Saturday.
The dramatic footage of the men being killed was shared across broadcast channels and social media. A gunman is seen reaching over the shoulders of police to point a pistol at the temple of the former lawmaker, Atiq Ahmed, whose turban is blown off as the gun discharges.
His brother, Ashraf Ahmed, was shot and the two victims died within minutes, while police quickly detained three men suspected of carrying out the slaying.
Photo: Reuters
Media reports say the assailants had been posing as journalists. One surrendered immediately after the shooting, while officers subdued the other two suspects.
They had been among a crowd that had gathered as the two brothers, allegedly kingpins in a local criminal organization, were being brought handcuffed from a hospital in Prayagraj city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday evening.
After carrying out the slaying, the suspected gunmen shouted Hindu religious chants.
One police oficer was wounded during the attack.
Fearing the possibility of violent unrest in the wake of the killings, the Uttar Pradesh government barred gatherings of more than four people across the entire state.
“The state government imposed restrictive orders after the killings of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed who were members of a large mafia involved in land grabbing and in murder cases,” a senior police official said.
“We don’t want any form of protest to gain momentum,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity as he is not authorized to talk with the press.
The state government, controlled by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, has ordered a judicial probe into the killings.
Last week police shot and killed Atiq Ahmed’s son in Jhansi city. He had been wanted in connection with a murder case that was being investigated as part of a wider crackdown into a land mafia operating in Uttar Pradesh.
Opposition Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, said the slaying of his former party member while in police custody demonstrated the failure of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to bring law and order to Uttar Pradesh.
“When someone can be killed in firing openly amidst the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public,” Yadav wrote on Twitter.
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki yesterday erupted again with giant ash and smoke plumes after forcing evacuations of villages and flight cancelations, including to and from the resort island of Bali. Several eruptions sent ash up to 5km into the sky on Tuesday evening to yesterday afternoon. An eruption on Tuesday afternoon sent thick, gray clouds 10km into the sky that expanded into a mushroom-shaped ash cloud visible as much as 150km kilometers away. The eruption alert was raised on Tuesday to the highest level and the danger zone where people are recommended to leave was expanded to 8km from the crater. Officers also
RSS