Ganesh Kendale
LUCKNOW: Saturday’s killing of NCP functionary Baba Siddique in Mumbai has foregrounded disturbing parallels with sensational murders last year of UP gangsters Atiq Ahmed and brother Ashraf in police custody in Prayagraj, as well as the courtroom assassination of Sanjeev Maheshwari in Lucknow. In all three cases, the emerging pattern is that relatively unknown shooters with no or limited criminal history were contracted by powerful, hidden players to execute high-profile murders with precision and lethal efficiency.
Atiq and Ashraf were gunned down by three assailants – Lavlesh Tiwari (22), Mohit Singh alias Shani (23), and Arun Maurya (18) – at Colvin Hospital in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023. The brothers, facing trial for the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, were being escorted for a routine check-up when the , disguised as journalists, fired from close range. The shooting was executed in a swift manner, leaving Atiq and Ashraf dead on the spot. The assailants are in jail now.
On June 7, 2023, Maheshwari – another gangster with 24 cases against him – was shot dead inside a Lucknow courtroom. The shooter, Vijay Yadav, posed as an advocate and fired six rounds at Maheshwari, killing him on the spot. In the crossfire, a toddler and her mother were also injured. Yadav, who had no known personal vendetta against Maheshwari, was arrested immediately, raising suspicion that he, too, was acting on behalf of a powerful figure. A striking similarity is the use of sophisticated, uncommon weapons. The killers of Atiq and Ashraf were armed with high-end 9mm Turkey Zigana pistols – expensive, imported firearms.
