'Someone is complicit': SC raps UP govt over Atiq's killing

NT Bureau, Agencies

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has pulled up the Uttar Pradesh government over the killing of former Lok Sabha member Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in police custody in Prayagraj on April 15, observing "someone is complicit".

It has also sought a status report from the state government on 183 "police encounters" that have taken place since 2017.

According to the state police, 183 people have been killed in numerous police encounters since the Yogi Adityanath government assumed office in March 2017.

Yogi's detractors have often claimed many of them were staged. A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar directed the UP government on Friday to file an affidavit within six weeks giving the details of these encounters, the status of investigation, charge sheets filed and the status of trial.

"There were 5 to 10 people guarding him (Atiq)… How can someone just come and shoot? How does this happen? Someone is complicit," the bench observed.