Criminals should be given the harshest punishment but it should be according to the law of the land and playing with the rule of law for any political purpose is not right for democracy, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Sunday, a day after gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh.

Ahmad (60) 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 while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup.