It was throughout in lower than a minute.

Footage from Saturday night time exhibits mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed getting out from the again of a police jeep close to a hospital within the metropolis of Prayagraj, also referred to as Allahabad.

A heavyset man, Ahmed, a former MP and convicted felony, is helped down by a policeman and his brother Ashraf. The brothers are being led by a sequence hooked up to their handcuffs.

As they begin strolling, surrounded by a hoop of police constables, native TV reporters besiege them – amongst them are gunmen pretending to be journalists.

A second later, a gun is pulled near his head, his white turban detaches from his head as he collapses to the bottom. A second later, his brother can be shot.

Two gunmen and one other man instantly give up to the police.

The Uttar Pradesh state authorities has ordered an investigation, however Saturday night’s daring homicide has unleashed a torrent of criticism from main native and nationwide politicians who say it exhibits regulation and order has damaged down there.

Lawyer and politician Kapil Sibal stated there had been “two murders” in Uttar Pradesh – “one, of Atiq and brother Ashraf and two, of Rule of Law”.

Vikram Singh, former director normal of Uttar Pradesh’s state police, instructed the BBC that Ahmad’s homicide was unacceptable. “Death in custody is bad enough, murder is worse,” he stated.

To say Ahmed was a controversial man is an understatement.

The 60-year-old was born in a poor household in Prayagraj and was a college dropout, however through the years he amassed large wealth, loved political patronage and energy and got here to wield immense affect within the metropolis of his start and past.

Starting in 1989, he was elected 5 instances as a legislator to the state meeting from the town, and was additionally elected to the parliament from Phulpur constituency in 2004.

Mr Singh describes him as a kind of “Robin Hood, a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde type of character” who “spent lavishly to help poor people – paying for weddings, giving them money during Eid festivals, and helping poor women buy school uniforms and books for their children”.

But this persona unravelled as Ahmed was accused of kidnappings, murders, extortion and land grabs.

More than 100 instances have been registered in opposition to him and he was stated to be concerned in as many extra “but the victims were too afraid to lodge complaints”, he added.

Over twenty years Ahmed had spells in jail however but he maintained his sway over Uttar Pradesh’s underworld and ensured his males have been protected.

But after the regional Samajwadi Party severed ties with him and the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party got here to energy within the state that Ahmed’s affect started to wane.

He was arrested for assault in 2017 and was later moved to a jail within the western state of Gujarat.

The most up-to-date motion in opposition to him began in February when footage emerged that confirmed a bunch of males killing Umesh Pal, a key witness within the 2005 homicide of Raju Pal, a lawmaker belonging to the regional Bahujan Samaj Party. The Ahmed brothers had been accused of involvement in Pal’s homicide.

The February homicide caught on video set in movement a sequence of occasions that has left Ahmed and several other members of his household and supporters lifeless, his spouse on the run with a bounty on her head, two of his sons in jail and the remaining two sons who’re minors in authorities safety properties.

Ahmed was delivered to Prayagraj to face prices within the case after India’s Supreme Court final month declined to listen to his petition alleging that there was a menace to his life from the police. His brother was additionally delivered to the town from a jail in one other district within the state.

On Thursday, his 19-year-old son Asad and an aide have been killed by the police in a so-called encounter – with accusations flying that they have been shot lifeless in a deliberate execution.

Many elements of Prayagraj have been a ghost city on Sunday morning. The predominant bazaars within the outdated metropolis – normally buzzing with exercise right now of the yr as Muslims have fun the pageant of Eid – have been abandoned.

Police vans and officers are deployed on nearly each avenue. Internet providers are down in most elements. And locals are reluctant to speak to the media or say something in regards to the murders.

A 40-year-old Muslim man, who did not wish to be named, instructed the BBC that individuals have been shocked.

“How can somebody be killed in front of the media and the police? He was a convicted criminal I agree, but that doesn’t mean he can be shot like that. What about the rule of law?” he requested.

“Many of us are wondering if he was killed because he was a Muslim. I don’t know if that’s true, but this incident has terrified the city. We deserve better.”

Mahant Raju Das, head of Hanumangadhi temple within the city of Ayodhya, nonetheless, stated that such incidents shouldn’t be checked out by a sectarian lens.

“Criminals do not have religion or caste. I appeal to all politicians to not look at crime through a Hindu-Muslim lens,” he stated, including that “it is a regrettable incident and raises questions on law and order situation in the state”.

“There are still so many mafias in the state. But they should not be killed like this, they should be kept in jail so they should realise their sins.”

Additional reporting by Ankit Srinivas from Prayagraj

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