Inquiring Into Security Lapses Which May Have Led To Killings Of Atiq Ahmed & Brother : UP Govt Tells Supreme Court

Inquiry into the death of Atiq Ahmed and his brother

The affidavit narrates various events which took place when Atiq Ahmed and his brother were in custody. It is said that on April 15, the accused were taken from the police station for recovery of weapons and about 17 firearms were recovered. On way back, they complained on uneasiness and they were hence taken to Motilal Nehru hospital at around 10.20 PM. Media teams were following the police vehicles.

"As soon as the police team had taken a few steps into the hospital premises, the crowd of media personnel broke through the security cordon and accosted the team to get statements of the accused. Accused Atig and Ashraf stopped and started speaking with the media persons.Suddenly, 2 of the media persons in the crowd dropped their respective cameras and mics, took out state-of-the-art semiautomatic weapons and started firing at the accused. A third purported media person also joined in the firing, and before anyone could react, all 3 persons, evidently disguised as media persons, had shot Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf, who collapsed on the spot. The whole incident lasted around 9 to 10 seconds only", the affidavit stated. One constable and few journalists also received gun shot injuries. The attackers identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Mohit alias Sunny Purane and Arun Kumar Maurya were later arrested.

In the aftermath of the incident, a 3 member judicial inquiry commission was constituted by the State government on 16th April, 2023 to submit a report within 2 months. It was later expanded to a 5 member commission headed by the former Chief justice of Allahabad high court Hon’ble J. Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle.

The committee examined a total of 38 witnesses and was yet to examine 45 more witnesses. Therefore, the state government extended its tenure by another 3 months up to 24th September 2023.

Moreover, a 3 member SIT was constituted by the Commissioner of Prayagraj headed by Additional DCP. It is being supervised by a 3 member team formed by DGP, UP for a scientific, impartial, and thorough investigation.

Crime scene reconstruction was carried out by the forensics team and a statement of 78 witnesses including 34 eyewitnesses were recorded. They recovered 3 pistols, magazines, and NCR News channel Mike. Further, recoveries of phones and forensic investigation of pellets are being carried out.

Details of the progress of the investigation were provided to NHRC by Commissioner, Prayagraj after a complaint was made in this regard. A magisterial inquiry was also in progress to look into the incident.

The state was also inquiring into the security lapses which may have led the attackers to breach the security cordon and open firing at Atiq Ahmed. 4 police officers and the SHO of Shahganj have been suspended.

Inquiry into death of Atiq’s son Mohd Asad and Ghulam Khan

A 2 member judicial commission headed by Hon’ble Justice(Retd.) Rajiv Lochan Mehrotra was set up for an inquiry into police encounters that led to their deaths on 13th April 2023 in Jhansi.

It submitted that the state had fully complied with the directions of this court passed in PUCL v. State of Maharashtra(2014). Accused were administered first aid on the spot, panch witnesses were appointed and a post-mortem was conducted under videography by a panel of 3 doctors. NHRC was informed within 24 hours of the incident.

The IO had taken custody of the policemen’s glock pistols and sent them for forensic investigation. Evidence of the crime scene was collected and an investigation is underway.

The City Magistrate Mr. Ankur Shrivastava was nominated to conduct a magisterial inquiry into this incident.

Steps taken to implement Hon’ble J. BS Chauhan’s Committee Report on police reforms

Post Bikru incident and subsequent deaths of Vikas Dubey, this committee was constituted to suggest police reforms to prevent such future occurrences by this court. It had concluded that police versions of retaliatory firing could not be doubted. It also flagged the unholy nexus between police and Vikas Dubey which led to the massacre of 8 policemen in Bikru incident.

• Separation of law and order and investigation wing of police- ASP(Crime)/DCP(Crime) have been appointed and crime branches have been formed in all districts. Investigation units have been formed at all important police stations.
• Appointment has been made to the post of Joint commissioner(crime), DCP(Crime) and Joint commissioner(Law and Order), DCP(Law and order) in all 7 police commissionerate.
• Overhaul of manpower reform- 10,877 posts of various cadres have been created in police department since 2021. Requisitioning of more than 1 lakh posts is also under progress.
• Modernisation rehaul- medium prison vans/drones, body warn cameras, post mortem kits have been procured.
• 4 additional forensic labs have been setup at Kannauj, Aligarh, Gonda and Bareilly and 6 more are underway
• Police commissionerate system has been initiated in Lucknow city, Gautam buddh nagar, kanpur city and varanasi city, Agra, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj.
• Special Task force has been deputed to investigate organised crimes. Anti land mafia task force has also been setup in all districts.
• The post of DSP Police, Local Intelligence Unit has been upgraded in 4 districts.
• The procurement of CCTV cameras for installation in police stations has been decentralized and is underway.
• All police stations have been mapped on the e-prosecution portal for effective implementation of an interoperable criminal justice system.