Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh while they were speaking to media in police custody, soon after a UP minister tweeted about "sin and virtue".
"Sin and virtue are accounted for in this birth," tweeted Swatantra Dev Singh, Jal Shakti Minister in the state.
The shooting that occurred around 10 pm was caught on camera as mediapersons were following the handcuffed men, who were being taken to the hospital by police for a medical checkup.
"When crime reaches its peak...it is the decision of nature...," said state minister Suresh Kumar Khanna speaking about the killings.
A senior police officer said three people have been arrested in connection with the incident, which occurred just two days after Atiq Ahmed's son was killed in a police encounter in Jhansi.
Officials said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a three-member judicial commission to probe the killing of Ahmed and his brother.
"Crime has reached its peak in Uttar Pradesh and the criminals are unfazed. When someone can be shot dead amidst a police cordon, then what about the safety of the general public? An atmosphere of fear is being created among the public due to this and it seems that some people are deliberately creating such an atmosphere," said Akhilesh Yadav reacting to the incident.
A police team from Uttar Pradesh brought Ahmed, who was lodged in the high-security Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat's Ahmedabad, to Prayagraj on March 26 to produce him in a court in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case.
On March 28, the court sentenced Ahmad and two others to life imprisonment in the kidnapping case.
In 2006, Ahmed and his aides abducted Umesh Pal and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Umesh Pal had got a complaint registered in this regard. Ahmad was named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the Umesh Pal murder case, police said.
Among the most sensational murders in which Ahmed was allegedly involved was that of Raju Pal, the then BSP MLA who was shot dead in 2005.
Ahmed moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family have been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.