Police were escorting Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf to a medical check-up on Saturday night when three men posing as journalists targeted them from close range in Pryagraj city in the Uttar Pradesh state.
Police officer Ramit Sharma said the three assailants arrived at the scene on motorcycles.
“They managed to reach close to Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording a byte and fired at them from close range. Both sustained bullet injuries on the head,” he said. “It all happened in seconds.”
Multiple videos of Saturday’s shooting were shared on social media and it was initially broadcast live on local TV channels as the brothers spoke to the media while being taken to hospital.
The footage shows someone pulling a gun close to Atiq Ahmad’s head and, as he collapses, his brother is also shot.
The video shows assailants repeatedly firing at the two men after both fell on the ground.
Local police said that the assailants have been identified as Lovelesh Tewari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya. All three have since been arrested.
They arrived in Prayagraj two days ago and planned the attack after learning that the brothers were in police custody, according to NDTV.
Atiq Ahmad, 60, was jailed in 2019 after he was convicted of kidnapping a lawyer, Umesh Pal, who had testified against him as a witness in the killing of a lawmaker in 2005.
Ahmed was a member of the Indian Parliament and the UP Legislative Assembly and had over 100 criminal cases registered against him.
