A former politician in India, who was previously convicted of kidnapping, was reportedly shot and killed on live TV, along with his brother. Atiq Ahmed, a former MP in India, was being led along by police officers and speaking with reporters when a gun was fired close to his head in Prayagraj.
The shots were reportedly fired Saturday night, when three men who were pretending to be journalists immediately surrendered, per the BBC. The men were subsequently taken into custody by the authorities. Questions have been raised how someone could be killed on live television. As a result, the city has been put under a lockdown-like situation in an effort to mitigate more conflict.
The report noted that Ahmed’s teenage son had been shot and killed by police just days earlier.
The New York Times reported that the incident was part of three different raids by officers in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The outlet reported that these types of “extrajudicial killings” are referred to as “encounters,” which have been praised by the state’s leader, Yogi Adityanath, a “hard-line Hindu monk who is seen as a potential prime minister,” according to the report.
Ahmed had been accused of kidnapping, murder, and extortion over the past 20 years. Consequently, the local court had sentenced him and two others to life in jail back in March tied to a kidnapping case.
A video that has since been taken down by Twitter reportedly showed Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf, handcuffed, talking to the media as they made their way to the hospital for a medical check-up when they were both fatally shot. In the footage, the BBC reported that media outlets asked Ahmed if he had made it to his son’s funeral. He responded: “They did not take us, so we did not go.”
The three suspects apparently arrived on the scene riding motorcycles. A police officer and journalist were injured in the debacle.
