"Admin must be taken to task if they don't follow law": Kapil Sibal on Atiq killing

New Delhi: A day after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Prayagraj, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Sunday said the administration must be taken to task if they don't follow the law.
Speaking to ANI, Sibal said, "The administration must be brought to task if they do not follow the law". Invoking the killing of Atiq's son Asad, an accused in the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder of BSP leader Raju Pal, in an exchange of fire with a UP STF team earlier, Sibal said, "He was a young boy (Asad), aged 19. How could be a threat to national security? If you want to catch him, hit him on his leg, prosecute him. Why do you want to kill him?"
The Umesh Pal murder was the police case against the son of the gangster-turned-politician.
On whether the Supreme Court should take suo moto cognizance of the killing of Atiq Ahmad and Ashraf, Sibal said the whole process of law in the context of who should be arrested and how long he should be in jail and on which basis he should be kept in jail should be strictly set out by the Supreme Court.
Days after Asad was killed in an encounter in Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district, the mafia-turned-politician and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were killed on Saturday while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.
Atiq was accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and also in the subsequent killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the BSP's leader's murder, in February this year.
All three assailants were arrested, informed police after Atiq and his brother were shot dead.
"Three people have been arrested and they are being questioned. A journalist was also injured as he fell down and a constable sustained a bullet injury," Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said earlier.
UP CM Yogi Adityanath also ordered the setting up of a three-member judicial commission to probe the incident.
"UP CM Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the Prayagraj incident. He chaired a high-level meeting and ordered a high-level inquiry into the matter. The CM also ordered the formation of a three-member Judicial Commission (Judicial Inquiry Commission) in the matter," an officer said.
A forensic team also reached the scene of the incident and collected samples.
Moments before their killing, the slain gangster siblings, 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 burial. (ANI)