(CNN) A former lawmaker in IndiaThe parliamentarian, who was convicted of kidnapping, was shot dead along with his brother as police escorted them for a medical check-up in a killing captured on live television on Saturday.
Dramatic footage of the men being killed was shared on broadcast channels and social media. A gunman was seen reaching over the shoulder of the police to point a pistol at the temple of former lawmaker Atiq Ahmed, whose turban was blowing in the wind as he pulled out a gun.
His brother, Ashraf Ahmed, was shot and the two victims died within minutes, while the police quickly detained the three men suspected of carrying out the murder.
Media reports say the assailants were posing as journalists. One immediately surrendered after the shooting, while officers surrendered the other two suspects.
They were among a crowd that gathered as two brothers, said to be kingpins of a local criminal organization, were led away, in handcuffs, from a hospital in the city of Prayagraj in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday night.
After carrying out the killing, the suspected gunmen shouted Hindu religious songs.
A policeman was injured in the attack.
Fearing the possibility of violent riots after the killings, the Uttar Pradesh government banned gatherings of more than four people across the state.
“The state government has imposed strict orders after the killings of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed who were members of a big mafia involved in land grabbing and murder cases,” said a senior official of the police
“We don’t want any form of protest to gain momentum,” the official said on conditions of anonymity as he is not authorized to speak with the press.
The state government, controlled by the Prime Minister Narendra ModiThe Hindu nationalist party, ordered a judicial inquiry into the killings.
Last week, Atiq Ahmed’s son was shot dead by the police in the city of Jhansi. He is wanted in connection with a murder case being investigated as part of a wider crackdown on a land mafia operating in Uttar Pradesh.
Police in Uttar Pradesh have killed more than 180 suspected criminals in encounters in the past six years.
The leader of the opposition Samajwadi Party, said the killing of his former party member while in police custody showed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s failure to bring law and order to Uttar Pradesh.
“When a person can be killed in open firing in the middle of a police security cordon, then what about the safety of the general public,” Akhilesh Yadav, leader of the opposition Samajwadi Party, said in a tweet.
