No, they are not Atiq Ahmed’s murderers in the photo with Akhilesh Yadav.
Claim
Breaking news the both the killers have been identified, they both belongs from samajwadi party. As per reports #AtiqueAhmed and his brother know many black things about samajwadi party. Akhilesh yadav with help of his party people killed him. Now we know who is real killer.
Rating
Explanation
Atiq Ahmed and his brother Asharaf were killed on 15, April 2023 in Pragyaraj, Uttar Pradesh in front of the media when they were in police custody by three assailants posing as journalists. The three murderers are identified as Arun Maurya, Lavlesh Tiwari and Sunny.
Meanwhile, an image is shared on Twitter as killers of Atiq highlighting two persons behind Akhilesh Yadav, National President of Samajwadi Party. The highlighted two are claimed to be from Samajwadi Party and it is also mentioned that Akhilesh Yadav killed Atiq Ahmed with the help of his party members as Atiq knows the secrets of the Samajwadi Party. Some of the posts with such a claim can be seen here, here and here.
What is the truth?
The viral image is found among a set of images posted by Akhilesh Yadav on 13, April 2023 with the caption ‘today in Madhya Pradesh’ on his Twitter page.
The Twitter account of the Samajwadi Party also posted a couple of images from the same occasion on 13, April 2023 with the caption “Honorable National President Mr. Akhilesh Yadav paid floral tributes at the statue of former Deputy Chief Minister late Subhash Yadav in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh”.
Some of the social media users commented on the viral post that one of the highlighted persons is not Atiq’s murderer but Rajkumar Yadav from the Congress party, Sehore.
When searching for Rajkumar Yadav’s profile, we found his Facebook page which mentioned ‘District President Youth Congress Sehore’ in the bio. One of the persons highlighted in the viral photo is identified as Rajkumar Yadav after comparing it with his photos.
When searching his profile, we found an image of him in the same attire as in the viral image. This image was posted on 1, April 2023 mentioning it as paying tribute to former Deputy Chief Minister, Late Subhash Yadav. A few other photos of him in the same attire are also found on his profile.
We could not independently verify the identity of the other person. But, the photos of the murderers of Atiq Ahmed are found in an article published by New Indian Express with the caption “A collage of the accused (from L to R) Arun Maurya, Sunny, and Lavlesh Tiwari, who allegedly gunned down gangster-neta Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf”. And none of the photos matched the two persons highlighted in the viral image.
Youturn fact-checked and published articles on the rumours related to Atiq Ahmed and his son Asad Ahmed which are listed below.
Did Atiq Ahmed’s vote save UPA government and nuclear deal with US in 2008?
Atiq’s murderers indeed chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans but it is falsely claimed otherwise.
Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi’s funeral procession video falsely claimed as Asad Ahmed’s.
Conclusion
It is found that the photo of Congress Leader, Rajkumar Yadav, and another person, taken during Akhilesh Yadav’s visit to Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone to pay homage to Subhash Yadav is shared to falsely claim that he is one of Atiq’s murderers.
