Crude bomb thrown near Prayagraj home of Atiq's lawyer

A crude bomb was hurled in a bylane near the residence of one of the lawyers of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed on Tuesday, the police said.

There was no immediate report of any casualty in the explosion that occurred at around 2.30 pm in Katra locality in Prayagraj, they said.

SHO of Kernalganj police station Ram Mohan Rai claimed Atiq's lawyer Dayashankar Mishra was not the target and the incident was a fallout of personal enmity between two youths. However, the lawyer claimed that it was an attempt "to create fear and terror".

"I was in the court when my son informed me that bombs have been hurled. I rushed home. ...I think this has been done to frighten me, to create terror. It is a big conspiracy... It is for the police to find out who is behind this," Mishra told reporters.

"My daughter and the locals saw that there was one person involved and three bombs were hurled," he claimed.

Forensic experts had gathered evidence from the spot, the police said, adding further action was being taken.

"The crude bomb was hurled due to personal enmity of two youths in Katra locality. It is a coincidence that the incident occurred near the house of one of the advocates of Atiq Ahmad, who resides in the locality," the SHO claimed.

Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on Saturday night in dramatic circumstances during a media scrum while being escorted by police in Prayagraj.