SP, BSP demand thorough probe into Asad Ahmad's encounter

Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party demanded a through investigation into the death of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad in Jhansi on Thursday, alleging that it could be a fake encounter.

Hours after police said Asad and his accomplice Ghulam were killed in an encounter, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav alleged that the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh was trying to divert attention from real issues with "fake encounters". Soon, BSP supremo Mayawati said the killing could be a repeat of "Vikas Dubey incident".

Dubey was a notorious gangster from Kanpur, who was killed when the police vehicle bringing him from Madhya Pradesh overturned and he tried to escape by snatching a gun from a policeman, officials said.

Asad and Ghulam, wanted for the daylight murder of Umesh Pal and his two security guards in Prayagraj in February, were killed by an STF team, said Special Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar.

"By doing fake encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from real issues. The BJP does not believe in courts at all. Today's and other recent encounters should be thoroughly investigated and the culprits should not be spared. The government does not have the right to decide what is right or wrong. The BJP is against brotherhood," Yadav tweeted in Hindi.

झूठे एनकाउंटर करके भाजपा सरकार सच्चे मुद्दों से ध्यान भटकाना चाह रही है। भाजपाई न्यायालय में विश्वास ही नहीं करते हैं। आजके व हालिया एनकाउंटरों की भी गहन जाँच-पड़ताल हो व दोषियों को छोड़ा न जाए। सही-गलत के फ़ैसलों का अधिकार सत्ता का नहीं होता है।

भाजपा भाईचारे के ख़िलाफ़ है।

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 13, 2023

Mayawati said in a tweet that many types of discussions are happening on the Jhansi encounter.

"People feel their apprehension of a repeat of the Vikas Dubey incident has come true. Therefore, a high-level inquiry is necessary so that the complete facts and truth of the incident can come before the public," she added.

प्रयागराज के अतीक अहमद के बेटे व एक अन्य की आज पुलिस मुठभेड़ में हुई हत्या पर अनेकों प्रकार की चर्चायें गर्म हैं। लोगों को लगता है कि विकास दुबे काण्ड के दोहराए जाने की उनकी आशंका सच साबित हुई है। अतः घटना के पूरे तथ्य व सच्चाई जनता के सामने आ सके इसके लिए उच्च-स्तरीय जाँच जरूरी।

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) April 13, 2023

Both Asad and Ghulam were on the run since the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder of then BSP legislator Raju Pal. Umesh Pal's wife Jaya had alleged in a police complaint that Atiq Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, son Asad, their accomplice Ghulam and others were behind the killing.

Ahmad, the 60-year-old former Samajwadi Party legislator, was brought to Prayagraj for the second time within a month from Sabarmati jail in Gujarat for hearing in criminal cases related to the kidnapping and murder of Umesh Pal. On Thursday, he and Ashraf were sentenced to five-day police custody in the murder case.

Following the killing of Umesh Pal, Yadav had tried to corner Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and raised questions over law and order in the state. Adityanath had then retorted to Yadav, blaming his party for "nurturing" criminals. The chief minister had also vowed to "destroy" the mafia in the state.

"The mafia whose name is emerging...is it not true that the Samajwadi Party had made him an MP... He was a mafia nurtured by the SP. Our government is working to break their back. 'Mitti me mila denge' (We will destroy the mafia)," Adityanath had said in the assembly.