Atiq Ahmed, Brother Ashraf To Be Buried In Native UP Village

A day after Umesh Pal murder case accused Asad, who fell to police bullets, was buried at the Kasari Masari graveyard here, two more graves were dug on Sunday for his father - gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad - and uncle Asraf, both of whom were shot dead on Saturday night.

"It will take about 8-10 hours. The graves have to be 7-8 ft deep. The sun is blazing so it is taking more effort," Janu Khan, the grave digger, said while toiling in the scorching heat on Sunday afternoon.

The graveyard is located in the ancestral village of Ahmad. Mr Khan said that Atiq Ahmad's parents were also laid to rest there.

Mr Khan, who also prepared Asad's grave, said that it was the residents of the locality who told him to dig the graves and not Ahmad's family members.

"I have also dug the grave of his (Atiq's) father. My father had dug the grave of his mother," he said.

Asad Ahmad's last rites were performed at the Kasari Masari graveyard here on Saturday amid heavy police security, with only a few distant relatives and locals present inside the burial ground.

Asad and his accomplice Ghulam, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police near Jhansi on Thursday.

Asad was the third of the five sons of Atiq Ahmad and was on the run since the murder on February 24.

Hours after Asad was interred, Atiq Ahmad (60) and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists when the duo was answering queries from mediapersons while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)