Former Indian Lawmaker, His Brother Fatally Shot Stay on TV

LUCKNOW, India (AP) — A former Indian lawmaker convicted of kidnapping and going through homicide and assault fees was shot lifeless alongside along with his brother in a dramatic assault that was caught reside on TV in northern India, officers mentioned Sunday.

Atiq Ahmad and his brother, Ashraf Ahmad, had been below police escort on their technique to a medical checkup at a hospital on Saturday night time when three males posing as journalists focused the 2 brothers from shut vary in Prayagraj metropolis in Uttar Pradesh state.

The boys rapidly surrendered to the police after the capturing, with a minimum of one in all them chanting “Jai Shri Ram” or “Hail Lord Ram,” a slogan that has turn into a battle cry for Hindu nationalists of their marketing campaign in opposition to Muslims.

Uttar Pradesh is ruled by India’s ruling Hindu-nationalist Bhartiya Janata Social gathering.

Police officer Ramit Sharma mentioned the three assailants got here on bikes posing as journalists.

“They managed to achieve near Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording a byte and fired at them from shut vary. Each sustained bullet accidents on the pinnacle,” he mentioned.

“All of it occurred in seconds,” Sharma mentioned.

On Thursday, Atiq Ahmad’s teenage son and one other man, who had each been blamed for a current homicide, had been killed by police in what was described as a shootout.

Atiq Ahmad, 60, was jailed in 2019 after he was convicted of kidnapping. He was an area lawmaker 4 occasions and was additionally elected to India’s parliament in 2004.

His lawyer, Vijay Mishra, mentioned the incident was stunning as “it’s a clear failure of the police in making certain the security” of his shoppers.

Opposition events criticized the killings as a safety lapse.

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