Asad Ahmad buried in Prayagraj amid watertight security

Asad Ahmed, son of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, was cremated at the Kazari Masari cemetery on Saturday amid heavy police security, with few distant relatives and local residents allowed inside the burial site.
The funeral lasted for an hour, police said. “Asad Ahmed’s funeral was over and lasted for an hour. A few distant relatives of Ateeq and some local people were allowed to visit the grave. It was necessary from the security point of view,” said Akash Kulhari, Joint Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj.

Earlier, Assad’s uncle Usman reached the grave with his nephew’s body. The media was strictly prohibited from entering the heavily guarded tomb.

Atiq on Friday sought permission from the magistrate to attend his son’s funeral. As Friday is a holiday on the occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti, a request has been sent to the remand magistrate, said his lawyer Manish Khanna.

However, Atiq’s application was buried before it could be presented in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court on Saturday.

Azad and his accomplice Ghulam, who were wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were shot dead in a shootout with the Uttar Pradesh Police near Jhansi on Thursday.

Asad is the third of Atiq Ahmed’s five sons and absconding from the Umesh Paul murder case. Among Adiq’s other sons, eldest son Umar is lodged in Lucknow Jail while second son Ali is lodged in Naini Central Jail in separate cases. A fourth son, Ahjam, and a younger son, Aban, are lodged in a children’s home in Prayagraj.

According to Zanu Khan, who claimed to have excavated Asad’s grave, the remains of Adiq’s parents are also buried in the same grave (Kasari Masari)

Adiq is currently serving a life sentence in the 2006 Umesh milk kidnapping case.