Atiq Ahmed’s killers were linked to crime, wanted to be ‘gangsters’

Atiq Ahmed’s killers had a long history of crime and carried out the killings on April 15 while the gangster-turned-politician and his brother Ashraf were in the custody of Uttar Pradesh Police in Prayagraj, according to an ANI report.

Three assailants dressed as journalists assassinated Atiq and Ashraf while the gangsters were being taken for medical checks at Prayagraj Medical College.

 The killers, identified as Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lavlesh Tiwari, “wanted to become gangsters” and came together to hatch the plot to kill Atiq, ANI reported.

“Lavlesh Tiwari already used to run his gang with around 50 boys. However, he wanted to become a big criminal, so he carried out the murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf,” ANI reported citing its source.

The sources said Lavlesh Tiwari was earlier jailed for slapping a girl and numerous cases pertaining to assault, excise, molestation are registered against him. “He is a drug addict,” the ANI source said.
Sunny Singh is connected to the Bhati gang and he shot Ashraf, it further added.

According to the police, Sunny Singh has 14 cases registered against him and is a left-handed shooter. “He used to work in a tea stall earlier. After that he started working as a helper in a truck and eventually joined the world of crime. When he went to jail for a crime, he met Sundar Bhati there. He (Sunny) shot a man named Babu Yadav, because of which he was jailed,” ANI report cited.

Sunny Singh was arrested for the first time in 2016 in a robbery case. He preferred to be called “Purane Thakur”, the report further cited.

The police are now investigating whether anyone else was involved in the plot to kill Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. The three teenagers were apprehended by police.
According to preliminary results of an autopsy conducted on his body after his sensational murder that was caught on news cameras outside a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on April 15, Atiq Ahmed was shot at least eight times, with bullet injuries found in his head, neck, and chest.