A day after Atiq Ahmed, and his brother Ashraf, were shot dead under police escort in Prayagraj, a plea was moved in the Supreme Court on Sunday seeking the creation of a former apex court judge monitored independent expert committee to probe the custodial killings of the duo.
The public interest litigation, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, also sought a probe into the 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
Ahmed (60) and Ashraf, who were in handcuffs, were gunned down by three men posing as journalists when they were answering reporters’ queries while being escorted by police personnel to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup on Saturday night.
Just hours before the killings, the last rites of Ahmed’s son Asad were held. Asad along with one of his associates was gunned down in a police encounter in Jhansi on April 13.
Following Asad’s encounter, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Friday said that it has gunned down 183 alleged criminals in encounters during the six years of the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government.
“Issue guidelines/directions to safeguard the rule of law by constituting an Independent Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of former Supreme Court justice to inquire into the 183 encounters which had occurred since 2017 as stated by Uttar Pradesh Special Director General of Police (Law and Order) and also to inquire into the police custody murder of Atiq and Ashraf,” the plea said.
Referring to Atiq’s killing, the plea said “such actions by police are a severe threat to democracy and rule of law and lead to police state”.
“In a democratic society the police cannot be allowed to become a mode of delivering final justice or to become a punishing authority. The power of punishment is only vested in the judiciary,” the plea stated.
The plea said extra-judicial killings or fake police encounters have no place under the law.
When the police turn “Dare Devils then the entire rule of law collapses and generates fear in the mind of people against police which is very dangerous for democracy and this also results into further crime,” it stated.
(With PTI inputs)
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