Gunmen claiming to be journalists shot a former member of India's parliament and his brother in a live broadcast on television as they were handcuffed to hospital by police, authorities said.
Ateeq Ahmed, 61, who has been in prison since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping, was answering questions from reporters late on Saturday when he and his brother Ashraf were shot at close range, according to television footage.
"According to preliminary information, three people who claimed to be journalists approached them and opened fire," police official Prashant Kumar said, adding that they were currently being detained and being interrogated.
Television footage shows the attackers chanting Hindu slogans after the attack in the northern city of Prayagraj.
Both were from India's Muslim minority, but police have not said whether they are investigating sectarian motives behind the crime.
Underworld
The brothers were involved in India's criminal world, and the former MP is reportedly facing more than a hundred different cases. They were taken to hospital for medical check-ups and were surrounded by police officers at the time of the crime.
Local media reported that one of the attackers was carrying a television camera and another was holding a microphone with the logo of a television channel.
Days earlier, police in Uttar Pradesh state said they had shot dead Ahmed's 19-year-old son and accomplice in a shootout. Both are wanted in a murder case.
Before his death, Ahmed, who was facing charges of murder and assault, claimed in a petition filed last month with India's Supreme Court that his life was threatened by the police.
The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rules the Indian state of 200 million people.