Akhilesh Yadav said that the morale of the criminals in the state is high. (File)
Shortly after mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said crime has reached its peak in the state and the morale of the "criminals" has grown by leaps and bounds.
"Crime has reached its peak in UP and the morale of the criminals is high. When someone can be killed openly despite being surrounded by a security cordon, one can imagine the state of the general public. Due to this (alleged encounter killings), an ambience of fear is being created among the public. It seems that some people are deliberately creating such an ambience," tweeted Akhilesh Yadav in Hindi.
Moments ahead of their killing, both criminals, who were accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, were speaking to the media while being taken for a medical and their murder was captured on camera.
"Nahi le gaye to nahi gaye (they did not take us, so we did not go)" were Atiq Ahmed's last words, when asked what did he have to say on not being taken to his son Asad's funeral. "Main baat ye hai ki Guddu Muslim.... (the thing is that Guddu Muslim...) were Ashraf's last words.
According to visuals, both were handcuffed and taken for medical. As both proceeded, they answered questions by the mediapersons. Atiq was shot in the head from behind, nearly at point-blank range. Ashraf, too, was shot dead.
Days after Atiq Ahmed's son Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi, the mafia-turned-politician and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical in Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case and also in the Umesh Pal murder case which happened in February this year.
Asad was killed on April 13 in an encounter in Jhansi. He was killed along with Ghulam, both of whom were wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj. Each of them carried a reward of Rs 5 lakhs on their heads. The police said that foreign-made weapons were recovered.
"Asad, son of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and Ghulam S/o Maksudan, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj and carrying a reward of Rupees five lakhs each; killed in an encounter with the UPSTF team led by DySP Navendu and DySP Vimal at Jhansi. Sophisticated foreign-made weapons recovered," UP STF said.
Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were brought to the CJM Court in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh on the same day Asad was killed in the encounter.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)