A senior officer posted with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was shot dead and his wife was seriously injured when two unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants sprayed bullets on the couple in the early hours of Sunday in Bijnore district of UP.
The killers pumped as many as 21 bullets into Mohammed Tanzil Ahmad, the NIA officer, and four into his wife Farzana, as their 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son watched the gruesome incident from the back seat of the Wagon-R car they were travelling in, the police said. The children were not injured. Ahmad was returning home to Sahaspur village of Bijnor district with his family after attending his niece’s wedding in a nearby village in the same district, which is about 150 km from New Delhi.
UP director-general of police Javed Ahmad said the IGP (Special Task Force) and the IGP (Anti-Terrorist Squad) had been sent to Bijnor and the matter was being probed. “We are also in touch with NIA officers and coordinating with them. We will go deep into it and ensure that those involved are arrested”, Mr Ahmad told reporters in Lucknow.
Talking to the media in Lucknow, IGP (Law and Order) Bhagwan Swaroop said Tanzil Ahmad was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne persons while he was returning after attending a a marriage ceremony with his wife Farzana. Police sources said automatic weapons and 9 mm pistols were used in the incident. Reports claimed that Ahmad was a part of the team investigating the Pathankot airbase attack. However, NIA sources refused to comment on that. The state police termed the Ahmad’s killing as a “planned attack” and did not rule out the possibility of a terror angle behind the shooting.
The incident took place at around 1.45 am near Sahaspur when Ahmad, an assistant commandant with the BSF now on deputation to the NIA, was returning from Bijnore. Some sources said a planned attack took place and he was killed in the firing while his wife was injured. She was admitted to Fortis Hospital in Noida. Bijnore SHO Raj Kumar said: “The officer along with his wife was returning from the wedding of his niece when two unidentified bike-borne persons stopped his car and shot him. He was declared dead at a nearby hospital. This indicates that it was a planned killing.”
Union home minister Rajnath Singh told reporters in Lucknow that he had been apprised about the incident. “Whatever is necessary is being done. We are talking (to NIA officials),” Mr Singh said. The police suspects that Ahmad’s movements were being tracked by the assailants.
Ahmad, 45, who has been with NIA ever since it was formed in February 2009, had been investigating many cases, especially relating to the banned Indian Mujahideen outfit. His superiors said he was a thorough professional in intelligence-gathering as well as investigation.
The UP police has sealed the borders of the district and launched a manhunt for the assailants. Additional DGP Daljit Chowdhry told reporters in Lucknow that “nothing can be ruled out” when asked whether there was a possibility of a terror angle behind the attack. “A very serious offence has taken place in the district and we have taken it very seriously. The body has been sent for post-mortem and details of what actually happened will soon come out. Borders of the state have been sealed and checking is on in nearby villages to trace those involved in the killing of the officer. We are trying to find out the accused and the motive behind the murder,” he said.
“Investigations are on. Right now the UP police, UP ATS, NIA, the DIG of NIA from Lucknow and his team ... all of them are there on the spot,” Mr Chowdhry added.
