Lucknow, April 7: Two persons have been detained in connection with the murder of a National Investigation Agency or NIA officer last week in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor.
Mohammed Tanzil Ahmed, a Deputy Superintendent of Police who was investigating a host of terror cases, was shot at from close range at least 16 times by two unidentified men who drove up on a motorbike and intercepted the car near Sahaspur town on Saturday. Mr Ahmed, 45, was returning home to Delhi with his wife and children after attending a family wedding. His wife, Farzana, was shot twice and is recovering in hospital.
The officer’s children, aged 14 and 11, had told the police that as the first shots were fired, their father asked them to duck.
One of the men detained is believed to be a sharp shooter. Both are being questioned by investigators.
On Wednesday, the Uttar Pradesh police said that “a personal matter” may have been the reason behind the officer’s killing. “There are certain things which are indicating towards a personal matter,” Daljeet Singh Chaudhary, Additional Director General (Law and Order), said. Earlier, he had said that two unidentified persons seen in a video footage from the family wedding were not suspects in the murder.
Investigators said the assassins appear to have mapped Mr Ahmed’s movements to the last detail.
The NIA, Uttar Pradesh Police and other security agencies are together investigating the case, but Mr Ahmed’s family has requested a CBI inquiry. The NIA officer was investigating cases against suspected ISIS sympathisers and also an arms case that allegedly involved members of the banned Students Islamic Movemen
