The victim was killed less than 200 metres from Khajuria Police Station, shortly after leaving the station where he had been summoned for verification
RAMPUR/NEW DELHI — Almost exactly a year after walking out of jail following his acquittal on terror and murder charges, 52-yea r-old Mohammad Sharif was shot dead by motorcycle-borne gunmen in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur on Tuesday.
Sharif was killed less than 200 metres from Khajuria Police Station, shortly after leaving the station where he had been summoned for verification.
According to police and his family, Sharif was called to Khajuria Police Station around 4 pm and left sometime after 6 pm. He was riding pillion behind his 21-year-old son, Abu Wais Khan, on a motorcycle when two masked men on another motorcycle approached them near the Panwaria village crossing and opened fire.
His son escaped unhurt. Residents alerted police, who took Sharif to hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
His younger brother, Shaheen, told reporters that Sharif was summoned to the police station on earlier occasions as well, and that the attackers struck barely 200 metres after the father and son left the station.
There is a discrepancy over the number of shots. Local accounts cited in some reports claimed he was shot 16 times, including a gunshot wound to the head. Police, however, said two bullet wounds were visible on his body and that the exact number and nature of injuries would become clear only after the post-mortem examination.
Rampur Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Singh said police were recording statements from family members to determine whether Sharif faced any recent threat or had any dispute. No motive has been officially established and the attackers remained untraced at the time of reporting.
Since his release, Sharif had been living with his family in Badanpuri village and farming his land.
The 2007-08 Attack
Sharif was arrested in connection with the attack on the CRPF Group Centre in Rampur on the intervening night of 31 December 2007 and 1 January 2008.
Seven CRPF personnel and a rickshaw-puller were killed and five others were injured in the pre-dawn attack, which investigators later described as plotted by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
Police arrested Sharif along with Jang Bahadur from Moradabad, Kausar from Pratapgarh, Khan from Bareilly and Sabauddin from Bihar. Two Pakistani nationals, Imran Shahzad and Mohammad Farooq, were also arrested. Police said they had recovered AK-47 rifles, magazines, grenades and other items from the accused.
Trial Court Verdict in 2019
In November 2019, a trial court in Rampur sentenced Sharif, Sabauddin, Imran Shahzad and Mohammad Farooq to death. Jang Bahadur was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Gulab Khan and Mohammad Kausar were acquitted for lack of sufficient evidence.
On 29 October 2025, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra, set aside the death sentences and the life sentence.
The court acquitted all five of murder, terrorism, conspiracy and other principal charges, holding that the prosecution had “miserably failed to prove the case against the accused for the principal offence beyond reasonable doubt.”
It sharply criticised the investigation, saying the defect in investigation had “struck at the root of the case.” The lapses cited were failure to conduct a Test Identification Parade, gaps in eyewitness accounts and failure to properly preserve, secure and trace firearms, cartridges and grenades through the chain of custody.
It also said the prosecution failed to examine key witnesses who could have verified the storage and transfer of evidence.
The court also said the state could take action against police officers responsible for the lapses, and remarked that the case might have had a different outcome had it been handled by better-trained personnel.
However, the bench upheld their conviction under Section 25(1-A) of the Arms Act for possessing prohibited weapons, sentencing each to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh.
Since the time already spent in prison was to be adjusted against that sentence, Sharif was released from Bareilly Central Jail in November 2025 after spending more than 17 years in incarceration and returned to his village.
Case Pending in Supreme Court
The acquittal did not end the legal proceedings. The Uttar Pradesh government challenged the High Court verdict in the Supreme Court.
On 11 February 2026, a Supreme Court bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta agreed to hear the state’s plea, issued notices to the five accused and listed the matter for hearing after four weeks.
That challenge was still pending when Sharif was killed.
Azam Khan Connection Alleged
Reacting to the killing, Rampur BJP MLA Akash Saxena alleged that Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan had supported the accused and sought withdrawal of cases against him. Police have not disclosed any motive for the attack.
Police say a manhunt is on for the gunmen, and the investigation into Sharif’s killing is continuing.
