According to authorities, gunmen masquerading as journalists fatally shot a former Indian member of parliament and his brother live on television as they were being transported to a hospital in handcuffs.
Atiq Ahmed, 61, who had been incarcerated since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping, was answering queries from reporters on Saturday when he and his brother Ashraf were shot at close range, according to television images.
“According to preliminary intelligence, three individuals posing as journalists opened fire on them… “The assailants have been apprehended and are currently being questioned,” said police official Prashant Kumar.
In the northern city of Prayagraj, a television clip shows the assailants shouting Hindu slogans following the brazen assault.
The two victims were members of India’s Muslim minority. But police did not indicate whether they were looking into a potential sectarian motive for the murders.
According to press accounts, the assailants were petty criminals, and the brothers were heavily engaged in India’s criminal underworld (the ex-MP was reportedly facing over a hundred cases).
Police officers surrounded the two individuals as they were transported to the hospital for medical examinations.
Local media reported that one gunman had a TV camera and another a microphone with a TV channel’s logo.
In a battle earlier this week, Uttar Pradesh police killed Ahmed’s 19-year-old son and his accomplice. Both suspects were sought for murder.
Hundreds of persons charged in the state have been slain in “police encounters” that rights groups call extrajudicial murders.
Last month, Ahmed, who was charged with murder and violence, petitioned India’s top court that the police threatened his life.
On Sunday, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prohibited gatherings of more than four people in the 200 million-person, the crime-ridden northern state ruled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The shooting prompted opposition parties to accuse the BJP of ruling through terror.
Hundreds of politicians from all parties in India face pending criminal charges, with Uttar Pradesh being a particular hotspot.
According to the Association for Democratic Reforms, this includes nearly half of the state’s ministers, including the state’s leader.
