The incident took place in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were on their way to a medical examination under escort. Police spokesman Ramit Sharma said the three assailants arrived on motorcycles and got close to the former politician by posing as journalists.
"They managed to reach close to Atiq and his brother on the pretext of recording a bite and fired at them from close range. Both sustained bullet injuries on the head … It all happened in seconds," said Sharma.
According to the video footage, the brothers, under police escort, got out of the car and were giving an interview to a TV station on their way to the hospital. The video shows one of the attackers holding a gun to Atik Ahmad's head. As he fell, the other bandits shot his brother. According to police, the attackers fired about 30 shots. After the shooting, they surrendered to police.
The assailants were named as Lavlesh Tiwari, 22, Mohit Puraney, 23, and Arun Kumar Maurya, 18, reports British media.
"We wanted to kill Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf with the aim of completely wiping off the Atiq-Ashraf gang and making a name for ourselves," the men are quoted as telling police in the report filed in the case by British media.
Atiq Ahmed was an ex-member of parliament from the Phulpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He faced more than 90 criminal charges, including murder, kidnapping and extortion. He was also accused of assaulting an Allahabad University professor in 2018.
In 2019, Atik Ahmad, 60, was found guilty of kidnapping lawyer Umesh Pal, who had testified against him as a witness in the 2005 deputy's murder case.
After the attack, authorities imposed a statewide ban on gatherings of more than four people, and also cut off Internet access on cell phones in the town of Prayagraj. The government has ordered a judicial investigation.