Atiq Ahmed, Ashraf killings: How UP cops recreated crime scene

PRAYAGRAJ: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the sensational killing of gangster brothers Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, on Thursday recreated the crime scene on Colvin Hospital campus amid tight security arrangement to understand the sequence of events leading to the sensational hit on April 15 evening.
The SIT members were accompanied by Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) experts. The policemen who were escorting Atiq and Ashraf during the shooting were also called to the spot. However, the three shooters were not brought to the crime scene.
Probe team measures distance from police vehicle to hospital gate
More than 50 police personnel and forensic experts executed the crime scene recreation and compiled all required inputs. The recreation of crime scene involved six steps: stepping out of dummy Atiq-Ashraf from a police vehicle outside the hospital, their moving towards the hospital campus, firing on the gangster brothers at point-blank range, falling of dummy Atiq and Ashraf on the ground, surrender of shooters and their arrest. Under the crime scene reconstruction, two men in white headscarves, similar to the ones worn by Atiq and his brother Ashraf, were first seen stepping out of a police vehicle and being escorted towards MLN Divisional hospital campus.
As the duo entered inside the hospital campus while talking to ‘reporters’, three men posing as media persons opened fire on them at point blank-range. As a result, they fell on the ground causing a commotion while the police nabbed the shooters. The SIT team along with FSL experts also measured the distances from the police vehicle to the hospital main gate, and hospital main gate to the site of the incident. They also noted all points that could be helpful in cracking the case. Pointedly, during the second phase of crime scene recreation, the cops followed similar steps as witnessed in videos of Atiq-Ashraf killing. The duo posing as Atiq and Ashraf were seen walking slowly amid a crowd of journalists. A few policemen were also following them, when suddenly a man pointed a gun at Atiq Ahmed’s head and shot him point-blank. Two more men were seen shooting several rounds at the gangster’s brother.
The job was finished in 22 seconds after which the gunners raised their hands and were pinned by the policemen, just as it all unfolded on Saturday night. Gangsters Atiq and Ashraf were gunned down by a group of three assailants inside Colvin hospital campus under the limits of Shahganj police station here on Saturday night. The three accused — Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit Singh alias Shani, 23, and Arun Maurya, 18 — are now in the custody of the SIT. They were booked under Sections 307 and 302 of IPC, sections 3, 5, 25 and 27 of Arms Act and 7 CLA Act.