Atiq Ahmed: 'It's a cold blooded murder', Asaduddin Owaisi

President All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Asaduddin Owaisi has termed the killing of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed as cold blood murder and demanded Supreme Court-monitored time-bound investigation.

Asaduddin Owaisi said when a Muslim former MP had approached the Supreme Court apprehending a threat to his life the court had replied that when he was under judicial custody and taken out under Police protection; it is the duty of the state government to ensure his protection.

"We pleaded with the Supreme Court to take suo moto action and constitute an investigation team and no official from UP shall be included in it and asked this committee to finish the investigation in a time-bound manner".

He also demanded to remove all concerned Police officials from the services under the provision of Article 3 (11) of the Constitution of India. He asked the government to release two minor sons of Atiq who are in juvenile homes to attend the funeral as two other major sons are also behind bars.

Owaisi contended that no one believed that it was a spontaneous act. He questioned who informed them about the movement of Atiq and Ashraf and who trained them as they seemed to be professional shooters. Their hands were not shaking while firing. Why didn't the Police stop them? Owaisi said he is cautioning about the radicalization of most people, but no one is ready to realize it. If BJP is winning one after another election and ignoring this issue then it is not serving the nation.

He asked if killers have no connection with the UP Police, then how they radicalized and got these sophisticated weapons. Why were they shouting religious slogans after firing? If we do not call them terrorists then will we term them as patriotic? Those who were celebrating the encounters in Tv studios, they have to drown in a handful of water, be ashamed! They become vultures.

Asaduddin Owaisi said the responsibility for killings entirely lies on the Chief Minister of UP. If constitutional moralities still exist in him he should resign from his posts, but the BJP people are projecting him as the future Prime Minister before or after Narendra Modi. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is acting like a Pontius Pilate. He should break his silence. By killings, you are weakening the rule of law and constitution, and should not forget that you will not be in power forever.

He said not only Muslims of India but every citizen who believes in rule of law, courts, and constitution now feel weak and unsafe after yesterday’s incident. Those who are in power have neither compassion nor humanity.

Replying to a question that a group believes that it was an act of revenge as Atiq’s group had created a terror atmosphere in Allahabad two decades ago, he said to forget the rule of law and gouge out each other’s eyes.