It was a frightening scene when a crazed gunman approached an Indian politician and his brother and shot them in the head.
Atiq Ahmad was shot dead while speaking to journalists live on TV in the terrible footage from the state of Uttar Pradesh.
Ahmad, who had more than 100 criminal cases pending against him, was reportedly under arrest and being led by police to a court-ordered medical examination when the event took place.
Only two days prior, his son Asad Ahmad was fatally shot by Uttar Pradesh Police in what was widely regarded as an extrajudicial assassination.
While Ahmad was being questioned by journalists about why he had not gone to his son’s funeral, a gunman crept up behind him, pointed a revolver straight at his head, and shot him once, instantly killing him. Ahmad’s response was that he had been forbidden from going.
The shooter fired several rounds at Atiq as he fell to the ground.
Afterwards, two more shooters opened fire, murdering his brother Ashraf, who had a history of crime identical to that of his cousin.
In the hail of gunfire, a police officer and a journalist were also said to have been hurt.
Amid the shootings, attackers were heard shouting the words ‘Surrender’ and ‘Jai Sree Ram’, a slogan to praise the central figure of the Hindu religion, as police captured them.
“All the three shooters have been kept in three different police stations of the city,” a police commissioner confirmed following the attack.
The Uttar Pradesh government has also ordered a judicial commission to probe the attack.
Additional police forces were brought into the area and were foot-marching across the city.
Ahmed, who is a former MP, and his brother were in police custody and had been brought to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, where Ahmed was facing murder and assault charges.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, where the shooting took place, Yogi Adityanath, has been criticised for promoting “encounters”, a term used for extra-judicial killings in his state. He has now constituted a high-level committee to investigate the killing.
Opposition politicians and human rights activists have also slammed Adityanath and the ruling party, BJP, for promoting “anarchy and lawlessness.”
“When someone can be killed by firing openly amidst the security cordon of the police, then what about the safety of the general public?” tweeted a former Chief Minister of the state, Akhilesh Yadav.
”Due to this, an atmosphere of fear is being created among the public, it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere.’
Mail Online further gathered that police had imposed a strict curfew and were holding flag marches in the area in an attempt to restore law and order.
The three shooters have been kept at three separate police stations while initial investigations are concluded.
