Gunmen claiming to be journalists shot and killed a former member of India's parliament and his brother on live television as they were being handcuffed to hospital by police, authorities say.

Ateeq Ahmed, 61, who has been in prison since 2019 and was convicted of kidnapping, was answering journalists' questions late Saturday evening when he and his brother Ashraf were shot at close range, according to television footage.

"According to preliminary information, three people claiming to be journalists approached them and opened fire," said police official Prashant Kumar, noting that they were detained and are currently being interrogated.

Television footage shows the attackers chanting Hindu slogans after the attack, which took place in the northern city of Prayagraj.

The two dead were from the Muslim minority in India, but the police did not announce whether they were investigating sectarian motives behind the crime.

The brothers were involved in the underworld in India and the former deputy is reportedly facing more than 100 different cases.

They were taken to the hospital for medical examinations and were surrounded by policemen when the crime occurred.

Local media reported that one of the attackers was holding a TV camera and another was holding a microphone with a TV channel logo on it.

A few days earlier, the police in Uttar Pradesh state announced that they had shot Ahmed's 19-year-old son and his partner in an exchange of fire. Both of them are wanted in a murder case.

Before his death, Ahmed, who was facing charges of murder and assault, claimed in a petition he filed with the Supreme Court of India last month that his life was threatened by the police.

The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party governs the Indian state of 200 million people.