New Delhi/Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Tejaswi Yadav today slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf under police protection.
Calling it a failure of law and order, Nitish Kumar said that killing criminals is never a solution and he was saddened by the manner in which they were killed.

“Abolition of crime is not about killing criminals. Court exists to deliver justice,” said Mr Yadav.

“Police should look after their safety. It is sad that they were shot dead when they were being taken for medical examination,” he said.

Tejashwi Yadav also strongly condemned the incident and said the gang and the killing of his brother seemed “scripted”.

“Even the killers of a Prime Minister (Rajiv Gandhi) were brought to trial. What happened in UP was not Atiq Ahmed’s funeral but the law’s funeral,” Mr Yadav said.

“It was done for cheap publicity. The incident seems scripted,” he said.

Opposition parties have stepped up their attacks on the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government.

Mamata Banerjee had earlier tweeted, “I am appalled by the brutal anarchy and total breakdown of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. Shameful that criminals are now taking law into their own hands and are not deterred by the presence of police and media. We have no place for such illegal activities. Constitutional democracy.”

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav said the state was “in the grip of a jungle kingdom”.

The chief minister came under direct attack from Hyderabad politician Asaduddin Owaisi, who demanded his resignation and called for a Supreme Court watchdog inquiry.

Ateeq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three men who appeared to be journalists in Prayagraj on Saturday evening – days after the gangsters’ son Asad was allegedly killed in an encounter.

Flanked by several policemen, the men, handcuffed, slumped there and showed a video from the scene.

Lovelesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya, who shot Adhik and Ashraf, have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

The police said that Ahmed wanted to make a name for himself by eliminating the gang.

Yogi Adityanath asked the 3-member judicial inquiry committee to submit its report in 2 months.

Adiq Ahmed has more than 100 criminal cases against him including murder, kidnapping and extortion. He was recently sentenced to life imprisonment in a kidnapping case.

Ahmed was a five-time MLA and former Lok Sabha MP of the Samajwadi Party. He was recently sentenced to life imprisonment in a kidnapping case.

His brother Ashraf is also a mobster and has many cases against him.