LI Network
Published on: 19 April 2023 at 13:55 IST
A letter written by Atiq Ahmed two weeks before his murder with instructions to send it to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the chief justice of India in case of his death is being dispatched to them, his lawyer said on Tuesday.
Vijay Mishra, the lawyer for the gangster-politician, stated that he neither has nor sent the letter in a sealed envelope. He clarified that the letter is being kept somewhere else and will be sent by someone else.
Mishra also claimed that he is unaware of the contents of the letter. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition on April 24 regarding an independent investigation into the killing of Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj.
The brothers were shot dead by three men posing as journalists while being escorted to a hospital for a check-up. Ahmad had requested that the sealed letter be sent to the Chief Justice of India and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister in the event of his death.
The brothers were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareilly prisons for questioning in connection with the murder of Umesh Pal and his two police security guards.
Ahmad had previously sought protection from the Supreme Court, claiming that he and his family were falsely implicated in the case and he may be killed in a staged encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The plea filed in the apex court has requested an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
