Asad Ahmad buried in Prayagraj; Atiq fails to attend funeral

The last rites of Asad Ahmad, the son of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, were performed at Kasari Masari graveyard here on Saturday amid heavy police security, with few distant relatives and locals allowed inside the burial ground.

The burial lasted for an hour, police said.

Asad and his accomplice Ghulam, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police near Jhansi on Thursday.

Asad was the third of five sons of Atiq Ahmad and was absconding since the Umesh Pal murder case.

Ghulam's burial took place at a graveyard under the Shivkuti police station area.

"The last rites of Asad Ahmad have been completed, and it went for an hour. A few distant relatives of Atiq and some people of the locality were allowed to go to the graveyard. This was necessary from the security point of view," Joint Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, Akash Kulhari told PTI.

He added that the burial of Ghulam took place at a graveyard under Shivkuti police station area.

Earlier, Asad's uncle, Usman, reached the graveyard with the body of his nephew.

Media was strictly restricted from entering the heavily guarded graveyard.

Atiq had on Friday sought permission from a magistrate to attend the funeral of his son. His lawyer Manish Khanna had told PTI that since Friday was a holiday on account of Ambedkar Jayanti, the request had been sent to the remand magistrate.

However, the burial took place before Atiq's application could be presented in the court of chief judicial magistrate on Saturday. 

Speaking to reporters in Prayagraj after Asad's burial, one of his distant relatives (grandfather) Hamid Ali, said, "A number of family members took part in the last rites. However, among the very close relatives, only his uncle ('phoophaa') attended the last rites."

Ali added that initially arrangements were made to give a bath to the body at the ancestral place of Atiq Ahmad, but later it was told that the body will be taken directly to the graveyard.

All the rituals, which are done before the burial of the body, were completed at the graveyard itself, he said.

Ali also said, "No family members or relatives were stopped from coming to the graveyard, and the rituals pertaining to burial of the body were done properly.

"We do not have any complaints with the administration, and everything was done in a good manner. Around 100 persons attended the last rites (of Asad)."

Among Atiq's other sons, the eldest son Umar is lodged in the Lucknow jail, while the second son Ali is lodged in Naini Central Jail in separate cases.

The fourth son Ahjam and the youngest son Aban are housed in a juvenile home in Prayagraj.

Atiq's parents' remains are also buried in the same graveyard (Kasari Masari), according to Janu Khan, who claimed to have dug the grave of Asad.

Atiq is presently serving life imprisonment in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case.

Asad was caught on CCTV when Umesh Pal was killed and had been on the run for the past about 50 days, police said.

On Thursday, police said an STF team led by two deputy superintendents of police reached Badagaon area in Jhansi district after getting information about the presence of gangsters.

Asad and Ghulam, who were carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh each, tried to flee on a motorcycle, police had said.

They opened fire at the STF team when it surrounded them and the policemen retaliated, they said, adding the two men were killed in the exchange of fire.