Lucknow: Hearing will be held in the Supreme Court on Monday in the case of Mafia Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who were killed in police custody in Prayagraj. In this case, advocate Vishal Tiwari has filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Along with this, Atiq and Ashraf’s sister Ayesha Noori has also approached the Supreme Court regarding the investigation of the murder case.
In the Supreme Court, a bench of Justice SR Bhatt and Justice Arvind Kumar will hear the petition filed by Vishal Tiwari. In this case, the Uttar Pradesh government has filed a status report in the Supreme Court. The UP government has also filed its reply in this status report.
It has been told that a five-member committee headed by the retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court has been formed to investigate the Atiq-Ashraf murder case. Statements of several witnesses have also been recorded in the case. Apart from this, in this report, the Uttar Pradesh government has also given information about the compliance of the suggestions given by the committee constituted by the Supreme Court under the chairmanship of Justice BS Chauhan, a retired judge from the Supreme Court, on the matter of Vikas Dubey’s encounter.
The Supreme Court had earlier, during the hearing of the case, questioned the Uttar Pradesh government as to why Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf were produced before the media while being taken to the hospital for medical examination in police custody. Along with this, the Uttar Pradesh government was also asked how the killers got the information about taking both of them to the hospital.
The counsel appearing for Uttar Pradesh told the Supreme Court that the state government has constituted a three-member inquiry commission to investigate the incident shown live on national television. A Special Investigation Team of the Uttar Pradesh Police is also probing the matter. The Supreme Court had directed the state government to submit a status report on the incident and its aftermath.
UP Weather Live: Weather changed due to heavy rains in many districts including Lucknow, clouds will rain till night in Purvanchal
The Supreme Court said that the affidavit will also disclose the steps taken in relation to the incident which happened immediately before the incident in question. Along with this, the steps taken according to the report of Justice Dr. BS Chauhan’s commission will also have to be disclosed.
The order mentioned the killing of gangster Vikas Dubey in a police encounter. In July 2020, Vikas Dubey and his associates carried out the murder of eight policemen by ambushing them in Bikru village of Kanpur district. Later, Vikas Dubey was killed in an encounter while being brought to UP after being arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.
According to the police, Vikas Dubey tried to escape from the custody and during this he was killed. Doubts were raised on the veracity of the police encounter. In this case, a commission was constituted under the leadership of former Supreme Court judge Justice Chauhan to investigate the encounter killing of Vikas Dubey.
At the same time, in his petition, Vishal Tiwari has demanded the formation of an independent expert committee to investigate the murder of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. In the petition, a demand has been made to issue guidelines by constituting an independent expert committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge to investigate the 183 encounters that have taken place since 2017.
Along with this, an appeal has also been made to investigate the murder of Atiq and Ashraf in police custody. It has been said in the petition that such actions of the police are a serious threat to democracy and the rule of law.
Apart from Vishal Tiwari’s petition, Ayesha Noori, sister of Atiq and Ashraf, has also approached the Supreme Court demanding an inquiry into the murder. Ayesha Noori has said in the petition that the UP government has a hand in the murder of her two brothers. It was state sponsored murder.
In the petition, Ayesha Noori has described the custodial killing of both her brothers as extra judicial killing. It has been said in the petition that this entire incident was planned through high level government agents. According to Ayesha Noori, a plan was made to kill her family members. It got full support from the police officers and the UP government. The petition alleges that they have been given a free hand to kill, humiliate, arrest and harass his family members as part of the vendetta.
(youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uri5PvAkRQ)
