Need SC-monitored probe into Atiq's killing, says Congress leader Kamal Nath; appeasement politics, BJP retorts

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Sunday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the gunning down of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh a day earlier.

Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath on Sunday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe into the gunning down of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh a day earlier.

Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction late Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a mandatory check-up.

"What kind of politics is taking place in Uttar Pradesh and in the country? One day someone is killed and the next day someone else. It is for the society to think where UP and the country is headed. The Supreme Court should take notice of it and order an inquiry," Nath said.

Hitting back at Nath, MP Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Narendra Saluja said Nath should have instead expressed grief over those who had been killed by Atiq Ahmad.

"Atiq was facing more than 100 criminal cases. It is shameful Nath is demanding an investigation into the killing of a man who murdered several people and destroyed their families. Nath is siding with the mafia for the politics of appeasement," Saluja said.