The Uttar Pradesh Police believe Asad Ahmed had planned to attack the police convoy and free his father Atiq Ahmed en route from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj, and this is what led to him being chanced upon in Jhansi on Thursday morning and gunned down in an encounter.
Additional DG (Law and Order) of UP, Prashant Kumar, said the police had intelligence inputs that Atiq’s gang members could attack the police convoy to free him, and hence the route was sanitised from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj.
The route passed through Jhansi and Atiq Ahmed was brought from Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati jail on Tuesday morning to Prayagraj on Wednesday for a court hearing. Kumar said there was a “chance encounter” with Asad Ahmed and his aide Ghulam on Thursday morning in Jhansi around 12.30pm.
Sources said Atiq Ahmed’s repeated statements fearing that he will be killed by the police on the way may have prompted his son to plan a daring attack on the convoy and free his father. It was reported on Thursday that Atiq Ahmed, on hearing of his son’s death, had said “he died because of me”. Police said Asad had foreign-made pistols when he was gunned down. “Our preparation was so strong that Atiq’s gang could not attack the convoy,” Kumar said.
UP Police officials told News18 that Asad Ahmed was in Jhansi to do a recce for an attack on Atiq’s convoy when it passed the area. UP STF is still searching for other suspects who were aware of the plan for the ambush. Jhansi FSL team has found 24 empty cartridges from the crime spot and police claim they chased Asad for almost a kilometer before he fell into a ditch and opened fire on them.
Sources said Asad’s presence was first detected in Jhansi late in March when a UP STF team had quietly visited the district, questioned some people and followed up on those leads. Atiq Ahmed had earlier been brought from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj on March 28 and was taken back to Ahmedabad on March 30 after being convicted with life imprisonment in the Umesh Pal murder case. Asad’s confirmed presence in Jhansi was detected earlier this week too before Atiq was brought again from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj on April 11 and 12.
This seems to have made the police more cautious and led to Asad and his aide being spotted on a motorcycle on the highway in Jhansi. Asad was in disguise and tried to flee on realising the police was after him. He went towards Paricha Dam where was gunned down in a jungle in an encounter. This completed a 50-day meticulous search for Asad after the killing of Umesh Pal on February 24, during which the police came very close to catching him but had missed him by a whisker.
(With inputs from Anshul)
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