Atiq murder: From snapping internet to seniors hitting the roads, Prayagraj police did all to maintain calm in city areas

PRAYAGRAJ: From senior officials getting on the ground to maintain vigil, deploying additional forces in all sensitive and trouble-prone areas, to snapping internet connectivity, the Prayagraj police did everything it could to maintain law and order after the sensational killing of gangster brothers Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim alias Ashraf in Sangam city where they had held sway for four decades.
Sources said, soon after the killing of Atiq and Ashraf inside the campus of MLN Divisional Hospital (Colvin Hospital) on Saturday night by three men, the local police drew a foolproof plan to ensure that peace is not disturbed.
“Soon after the incident, our prime motive was to spread the clear message among locals that the killing was a spontaneous act by unknown criminals,” said additional DG (Prayagraj zone) Bhanu Bhaskar.
He said the duo had a strong hold over a dozen localities in old city areas which were put under intense vigil by deploying additional forces within no time. Working on the planned strategy, the old city areas were divided into seven zones and senior cops, including Bhanu Bhaskar, IG (Prayagraj zone) Chandra Prakash and commissioner of police Ramit Sharma along with administrative officials and police forces remained mobile throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning. “With the help of ICCC (integrated command and control centre), we managed to maintain a strict vigil throughout the city particularly old city areas and deployed forces accordingly to maintain peace. Strong posse of 2000 policemen, including 10 companies of PAC and six companies of RAF, were deployed at static locations,” Bhanu Bhaskar told TOI.Similarly, senior cops also maintained a strict watch on social media to curb any rumor mongering. The local administration snapped internet connectivity on Sunday and Monday to check spread of false news that could pose a law and order problem.
Bhaskar claimed that senior cops remained mobile for more than 36 hours from Saturday night to Monday morning and maintained a strict surveillance.
Additional forces were being called within six hours from neighbouring districts like Kaushambi, Pratapgarh, Banda, Chitrakoot and Hamirpur. The ADG added that the forces deployed at static locations of the city will be stationed till Eid-ul-Fitr.