Atiq Ahmed murder: Shooter Arun Maurya was booked for possession of illegal weapons in Haryana

Arun Maurya, one of the accused arrested in the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, was booked for possession of illegal weapons in Haryana's Panipat last year, officials said on Monday.

Maurya was booked under the Arms Act in February, 2022 and in another case in May that year, they said, adding that he was also jailed. The accused had been living intermittently in Haryana's Panipat and his native village Kadarwadi at Kasganj in Uttar Pradesh, a senior police official said.

"Maurya had two cases registered against him in 2022," Panipat Superintendent of Police Ajit Singh Shekhawat told PTI over phone. "One of the cases was registered under provisions of the Arms Act for possession of illegal weapon in February 2022, while the other case was registered in May over some fight," he said.

Asked about Maurya's age when he was first booked under the Arms Act in Panipat, the SP replied, "As per our records, he was around 18-years-old." He was on bail in both the cases, the officer said. Shekhawat added that although Maurya's family belongs to Kasganj, his grandfather had been working in Panipat.

According to Maurya's uncle, Sunil, the accused had done his matriculation. Sunil, who lives in Panipat, told reporters that the accused has a 12-year-old brother who is a student. Sunil said he had gone to their native village recently and learnt that Maurya told his family that he was going to Delhi to attend a friend's wedding. On the murder of Atiq and his brother, the accused's uncle said the family got to know about the incident after the Haryana police reached their house in Panipat to inquire about Maurya.

Ahmad (60) and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by the three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

The assailants -- Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur and Maurya -- were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout that took place in full view of camera crews outside the Prayagraj hospital. According to the FIR, the assailants told police that they killed the brothers to make a name for themselves in the world of crime.