Gangster-turned-politician and his brother shot dead live on TV

Incident was captured live on camera as brothers were answering questions being posed by reporters under police escort

Atiq Ahmed [right] and his brother Ashraf being interviewed by reporters on their way to a medical checkup moments before they were killed (ANI)

Former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead by three men posing as journalists in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj in India on Saturday.

Ahmed was a member of the Indian Parliament and the UP Legislative Assembly and had over 100 criminal cases registered against him.

Both he and his brother were being taken for a mandatory medical checkup at a hospital while in local police custody when they were shot point-blank by semi-automatic pistols around 10.30pm on Saturday.

The shocking incident was captured live on camera as the two brothers were answering questions being posed by reporters.

Local reports suggest about 20 bullets were fired at the brothers as they collapsed. A journalist and a police constable were also injured in the shooting.

Cameras show a hand carrying a pistol pushing aside Ahmed’s white turban from behind with the nozzle and firing at his left temple.

In some videos of the incident shared widely on social media, slogans of “Jai Shri Ram” can be heard as police subdued two of the perpetrators.

The Independent has not verified the authenticity of the videos.

Local police said that the assailants have been identified as Lovelesh Tewari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya.

They arrived in Prayagraj two days ago and planned the attack after learning that the brothers were in police custody, according to NDTV.

A senior official told The Indian Express that the interrogation of the two brothers was almost finished and as per routine legal procedure, both were taken to the hospital under police security for a check-up before sending them back into judicial custody.

Atiq Ahmed was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment for his involvement in the death of Umesh Pal, a witness in the 2005 murder case of a local member of the legislative assembly.

Based on a complaint made by Pal’s wife, a case was filed against Atiq, Ashraf, Asad Ahmed [Atiq’s son], his aide Ghulam Hassan and others on 25 February.

The cordoned-off crime scene where India’s former MP Atiq Ahmed was killed along with his brother, at the MLN Medical College premises in Prayagraj (EPA)

Meanwhile, UP police said the three assailants behind Atiq and his brother’s killing are being interrogated. Local reports said that the three gunmen told police that they wanted to kill the brothers “to become famous”.

State chief minister Yogi Adityanath – a leading figure in prime minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) – set up a three-member judicial commission to probe the incident.

Curfews and restrictions on people’s movement have been imposed in the city. There is heavy police deployment in several sensitive towns to maintain law and order, according to local reports.

Officials have also suspended the cops deployed to escort the brothers safely to the medical college, according to The Wire.

The killings come just two days after the politician’s son Asad Ahmed, as well as Hassan, were killed in a police encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF).

The two were shot dead by the STF during an encounter where they reportedly refused to surrender and opened fire in an attempt to flee.

Asad had earlier approached the Supreme Court stating that he feared he would be killed in a fake encounter but India’s top court had turned down his plea.

Two of Atiq Ahmed’s alleged aides, who were also accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, were also recently killed in separate police encounters.

One of the alleged perpetrators apprehended by UP police after the incident (Twitter)

Several Indian TV channels televised the disturbing footage of Ahmed and his brother’s killing fully without any breaks or blurs.

“By doing false encounters, the BJP government is trying to divert attention from the real issues. The BJP does not believe in the court at all,” the state’s opposition leader Akhilesh Yadav from the Samajwadi Party tweeted on Thursday.

Ahmed’s lawyer told NDTV that the police security arrangement when the brothers were being taken to the hospital for a mandatory medical check-up was “very minimal”.

Opposition party leaders, including Mr Yadav, have criticised the “failing law and order situation in UP” citing the recent killings that happened under police watch.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi called the murders “a perfect example of Yogi’s big failure of law & order”.

“In a society where murderers are celebrated, what’s the use of a criminal justice system?” he tweeted.