FIR against Twitter handle that threatened to avenge Atiq's murder

Prayagraj, May 9: The Cyber Crime unit of local police has lodged an FIR against a Twitter handle, for allegedly issuing threats to avenge the killings of mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf.

The case was lodged on Monday after instructions were issued in this regard by ADG (Law and Order) and SP Cyber Crime, police officials said.

In a post on April 25, the Twitter handle called 'The Sajjad Mughal' uploaded an old clip of Atiq's son Ali Ahmed addressing a gathering during an AIMIM rally.

The user captioned the tweet saying: "Atiq's lineage has not ended. Atiq's son Ali is still alive. God willing, the situation and government will change, then the city will again be called Allahabad, and all scores will be settled."

However, it is not clear if the speech was given by Ali in Prayagraj or any other city.

In response to the tweet, several netizens flagged it as an attempt to create unrest.

Police officials said that an FIR has been registered under the IT Act and other relevant sections of IPC as per instructions from senior officials and investigations are being carried out in this connection.

It may be recalled that Atiq and Ashraf were gunned down by three armed assailants while the mafia duo was being brought to Motilal Nehru (Colvin) Divisional Hospital for a court-mandated medical examination on April 15.

Later, all three assailants -- Arun Maurya, Sunny Singh and Lovelesh Tiwari -- were sent to judicial custody by the district court.

Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal and also in the killing of a key witness in that case, Umesh Pal, in February this year.