What we know about Atiq Ahmed's killers, their background and motive?

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night. The incident occurred when police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.

The incident has come as a shock to the nation while the opposition parties targeted the Yogi Adtiyanath's UP government over the law and order issue.

So, who are the killers?
The three attackers have been identified by the police as Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda, Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj.

Posing as journalists, the three killers were trying to get sound bites from the two gangsters. The men suddenly dropped their camera and attacked the gangster and his brother.

Lavlesh's family has disowned him. "Lavlesh is my son. I saw the incident on TV. He never lived with us and neither was he involved in our family affairs. We do not acknowledge his actions nor do we have anything to do with this. He did not inform anything to us. We have not been in touch with him for several years now. He is already facing a case registered against him. He was jailed in that case," said Yagya Tiwari.

A resident of Banda, who did not want to be named, told media persons that Tiwari's family was unlike the son and described him as a "drug addict". "His family has been our neighbour. The family is simple. Two of his brothers are priests while one is still studying. Lavlesh has been into crime and has been to jail several times. He has also gone to jail in an eve-teasing case earlier," he said. "He had ambitions to earn a big name in the world of crime," the neighbour claimed.

In Hamirpur, Sunny's brother Pintu said he had no idea how he got into crime. "My brother used to do nothing, and roam here and there. He has some cases registered against him, but I don't know the details," he told reporters on Sunday.

"We were three brothers, out of which one has died earlier. I don't know how Sunny got into crime. He ran away from home many years ago. I have no clue about what happened yesterday," he said. A neighbour said Sunny has not been living in the area for about 10 years.

"He was a resident of Kurara, and was normal when he was young. He went to jail after a brawl, after which his mentality changed and he entered the world of crime. After a few incidents, he left Kurara. He was in Hamirpur jail for about a year," he said.

Arun Maurya's neighbours in Kasganj expressed shock and claimed that his parents are dead. Two of his brothers are in the scrap business in Delhi, they told reporters.

However, the villagers do not know what Maurya did and where he lived. He too appeared to have left the village about a decade ago.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Sunny, who was studying BA at Lucknow University, has 17 criminal cases against him in Hamirpur district. Three years ago, he was jailed for teasing a girl.

Going by his Facebool profile, Lavlesh Tiwari has a connection with Bajrang Dal and a Zila Sah Pramukh of Bajrang Dal.

According to the FIR, the accused told police they wanted to make a name for themselves and establish their identity in the state by eliminating Atiq Ahmad's gang.

"Since the time we got to know about the police custody of Atiq and Ashraf, we were planning to murder them. So we posed as journalists and when we got the right opportunity, we pulled the trigger and implemented the plan," PTI quoted one of the accused as telling the cops.

With inputs from agencies