The Uttar Pradesh Police STF on Thursday killed Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad and his close aide Ghulam in an encounter in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case.
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New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh Police STF on Thursday killed Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad and his close aide Ghulam in an encounter in Jhansi. Both were wanted in Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj and carrying reward of Rupees five lakhs each. The police said it has also recovered sophisticated foreign made weapons from them. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj area on February 24 this year.
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Based on a complaint by Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others. The FIR was lodged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Ahmad is also an accused in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case.
Days after Umesh Pal’s murder, Uttar Pradesh Police had gunned down a 24-year-old Arbaaz wanted for his alleged role in the killing. Umesh Pal was a key witness in the 2005 murder of a sitting lawmaker Raju Pal. According to police, Arbaaz, Asad and Ghulam were involved in the killing of Pal. Umesh Pal and his police guard Sandeep Nishad were shot dead in Prayagraj in the broad-daylight in February.
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Reacting to the encounter, UP deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya congratulated the UP STF team for killing the wanted criminals. Taking to Twitter, he said, “Congratulations to UP STF, this was the fate of the killers of Mr. Umesh Pal Advocate and police personnel!”
Atiq Ahmed Produced In Prayagraj Court
Meanwhile, Atiq Ahmed and his brother were produced before a court in Prayagraj on Thursday in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. They were presented in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Gautam around 11:10 am amid security deployment. While Atiq Ahmed was brought to Prayagraj via road from Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat for his production, his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf was brought from a Bareilly jail.
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In 2006, Ahmad and his aides abducted Umesh Pal and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Umesh Pal had registered a complaint in this regard. The Supreme Court had in April 2019 directed that Ahmad be shifted to a high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in jail.
Ahmad has been named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said. Among the most sensational murders in which Ahmad is allegedly involved was that of Raju Pal, the then Bahujan Samaj Party MLA who was shot dead in 2005. Ahmad last month moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming he and his family have been falsely implicated as accused in the Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
