NIA officer Tanzil Ahmed shot dead

National Investigation Agency (NIA) DSP Tanzil Ahmed was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnore district, about 400 kilometres from here late on Saturday night.

According to police sources, Ahmed, who was returning home in his car after attending the wedding ceremony of his niece in Syohara, was intercepted by two motorcycle-borne assailants and was sprayed with bullets from close range.

Ahmed's wife also sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital in a critical condition. His two children, who were accompanying the couple in the car watched the gruesome incident, escaped unhurt. 

Ahmed was rushed to a hospital in the neighbouring Moradabad town but was declared brought dead. His wife was shifted to a higher centre.

The postmortem report said as many as 24 bullets had been fired at Ahmed. “A dozen bullets were lodged in the body while nine went through... three bullets brushed his body,” said a doctor, who was in the team that conducted the postmortem.

He also said there were two different types of bullets in the body indicating that two different firearms were used in the



killing. The bullets had been fired by 9 mm pistol, which is a prohibited bore, he said.

Although the police officials refused to say if Ahmed was also associated with the investigation into the recent terror attack on Pathankot airbase, sources revealed that the slain NIA officer had been involved in busting fake currency rackets and was also part of the team that probed last year's blast at a house in West Bengal's Burdwan district.

Police officials said the motive behind the killing was yet to be ascertained. On whether Ahmed's killing was the handiwork of terrorists, a senior UP police official said that “nothing can be ruled out”. 

Additional director general of police (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary said the security agencies were probing the killing from different angles. 

Meanwhile, the Delhi government announced Rs 1 crore compensation to the kin of the NIA officer. “The Delhi government will give Rs 1 crore compensation to the family of NIA officer Mohd Tanzil Ahmad as part of its policy,” said a government official. He is being given compensation as the officer was residing in Delhi.