The UP Police on Wednesday suspended five policemen, including the SHO of Shahganj where gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three assailants on Saturday night when they were being taken for medical check-up under the police escort.

Besides Shahganj SHO Ashwani Kumar Singh, the other four who have been suspended for alleged negligence are a sub-inspector and three constables, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Prayagraj) Deepak Bhuker.

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Meanwhile, a Prayagraj court sent the three alleged assailants to four-day police custody for questioning by a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Mohit alias Sunny Puraney (23) and Arun Kumar Maurya (18) were booked for murder after they allegedly shot dead Atiq and Ashraf at point-blank range outside a government hospital in Prayagraj. They were earlier sent to judicial custody and transferred to Pratapgarh district jail.

On Wednesday, the three were brought to Prayagraj under tight security.

“The court sent them to four days of police custody, which will start from 2 pm Wednesday. The police custody remand will end on April 23,” District Government Counsel (Prayagraj) Gulab Chand Agrihari said. The three were then taken to Reserve Police Lines for questioning.

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The three-member SIT, constituted by UP Police to investigate the murder of Atiq and Ashraf, had sought their custody to get information on how they got their hands on a Turkey-made sophisticated revolver that was used in the murder. “The investigators believe that they could recover more weapons from their questioning. Also, the SIT team is likely to take the three accused to the crime spot — Colvin Hospital — for recreation of the crime scene,” said a police officer.

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The SIT is being headed by Assistant Deputy Commissioner of Police Satish Chandra and has two members: Assistant Commissioner of Police Satyendra Prasad Tiwari and Inspector (Investigation Cell of Crime Branch) Om Prakash. The UP Police has also formed a separate team of three supervisors to monitor the SIT probe.

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The special team of supervisors is being led by Additional Director General (Prayagraj Zone) Bhanu Bhaskar with the Director of a Forensic Science Laboratory and the Police Commissioner of Prayagraj assisting him.

© The Indian Express (P) Ltd