Prayagraj: The aftermath of the brazen 24 February murder of Umesh Pal — the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal — in Prayagraj has been marked by a web of allegations and counter-allegations, with the alleged encounter killings of 2 suspects adding to the controversy.
The family of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, the prime suspect in Umesh Pal’s murder who is said to face around 100 police cases, has now pointed a finger of blame at UP minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’.
They claim that Ahmed had given Rs 5 crore to Gupta that they were trying to retrieve. They have also alleged an attempt to frame Ahmed’s family in the case in order to sabotage the potential mayoral bid of Ahmed’s wife Shaista Parveen, a BSP leader also named as an accused in the Umesh Pal case.
The post of Prayagraj mayor is currently held by Gupta’s wife Abhilasha Gupta.
Gupta, the UP minister for industrial development, export promotion, NRI and investment promotion, has said that linking the Umesh Pal case to the mayoral election was “laughable”.
माननीय मुख्यमंत्री योगी आदित्यनाथ जी के नेतृत्व में उत्तर प्रदेश में कानून का शासन है! योगी सरकार अपराधियों और माफियाओं के विरुद्ध जीरो टॉलरेंस की नीति पर काम कर रही है! उमेश पाल हत्याकांड में भी कार्यवाही पूरी सख्ती के साथ इसी दिशा में अग्रसर है! @myogiadityanath @PMOIndia
— Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi' (@NandiGuptaBJP) March 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Monday’s alleged encounter killing of Vijay Chaudhary — who police say went by the alias “Usman” and fired the first shot at Umesh Pal — has been labelled “fake” by his family, with opposition SP and BSP also raising questions about the investigation. The family has also questioned the police claim about his alias.
Chaudhary is the second suspect in the case to be gunned down by UP Police in an alleged encounter killing. The first was Arbaaz on 27 February. Police say both were killed in retaliatory firing.
Speaking to ThePrint, Virendra Kumar Kushwaha — the SHO for Kaundhiyara, where Chaudhary’s alleged encounter took place — said “he did not use the name ‘Usman’ in the area where he was residing but used it outside”.
“From the CCTV footage of the incident, it has been revealed that Vijay was the first person out of all the shooters to open fire on Umesh. He has cases of theft and cheating lodged against him,” he added.
Umesh Pal was murdered last month outside his home, where a group of armed assailants sprayed bullets on him and even allegedly threw bombs. His two guards were killed in the attack too.
Ahmed, his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, and his wife Parveen are among the accused booked by UP Police in the Umesh Pal case. However, they have pleaded innocence, with Ahmed even moving the Supreme Court expressing fears about a threat to his life.
Ahmed and his brother are both currently in jail.
Parveen, meanwhile, wrote to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath last week, again citing her suspicions about a link between the killing and her bid for mayor.
Parveen joined the BSP this January and was reportedly asked by party chief Mayawati to contest the mayoral election from Prayagraj.
Also Read: Former MP to ‘bomb specialist’ — 7 accused identified in brazen Umesh Pal murder in Prayagraj
‘Fake encounter’
According to UP Police, CCTV footage of Umesh Pal’s killing shows Vijay Chaudhary, 23, firing the first shot. They say he went by the alias “Usman”, a claim denied by the family.
Police say, on the day of the alleged encounter, they got a tip-off about Chaudhary’s presence at Kaundhiyara in Prayagraj. They allege he opened fire while he was being chased and got fatally injured in cross-firing.
Chaudhary’s wife Suhani and his father have termed the encounter “fake”, and accused the police of trying to establish a “Muslim identity” for him despite the fact that he was Hindu.
“I want to tell Yogi ji that I too want justice. I too should have been killed,” Suhani told TV channel News 24 Monday. “My husband was not the one. People [can] go to jail for a year or two but encounters should not happen. This is wrong… Tell Yogi ji that I should be killed in a similar encounter,” she added.
She said Chaudhary was “missing since (Sunday) evening”.
“I was befooled and told to call my husband. I was restless the entire night. I knew that these people would do it (kill him). I knew but my husband was not like that. My husband was a driver,” she added.
Suhani also said he had been home until night on 24 February. On 26 February, she added, he went “to Satna in connection with a case involving my brother-in-law and returned on 2 March”.
Chaudhary’s father said he was Hindu, and the family belongs to the Scheduled Castes community.
“We are Chaudharys… Hindus… this [calling him Muslim] is wrong,” he added in an interview to UP Tak.
‘Bid to frame family’
On Monday, Atiq Ahmad’s sister Ayesha Noori and Ashraf’s wife held a press conference in Prayagraj, where they alleged the family was being framed in a political conspiracy.
Ayesha alleged that minister Nand Gopal Gupta’s wife Abhilasha Gupta was unhappy with the fact that Parveen was planning to contest the upcoming mayoral election.
“The current mayor is conspiring so that my sister-in-law cannot fight the mayor election somehow, as she is getting a lot of support,” Ayesha said.
As undated photos of Ahmed with Gupta were shared on social media by the opposition, Ayesha said she and Parveen went to meet former MP Atiq Ahmed at Sabarmati jail, where he is currently lodged.
“Nandi ji had taken Rs 5 crore from my brother (Atiq). My brother told my sister-in-law… to take the money back. Now, Nandi ji is not taking our calls, and we are unable to contact him,” she added.
After Ayesha’s comments went viral, Gupta took to Twitter to refute the allegations.
“Law and order prevails in UP under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath. The Yogi government works with zero tolerance against mafia and criminals. In the Umesh Pal murder case too, action is being taken in the same direction with full strictness,” he said.
Gupta claimed the “baseless” allegations are an “unsuccessful attempt to mislead from the main issue”. “This is unfactual, unrestrained and nonsense talk,” he wrote in Hindi.
SP and BSP hit out
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have targeted the BJP government over the killing of Vijay Chaudhary.
Speaking to the media, SP principal general secretary Ram Gopal Yadav said one of Ahmed’s juvenile sons “would be killed in a day or two”.
Asked about the controversy over the alleged encounter killings, Yadav said since “the real culprits remain untouched, the police is under pressure from the top to kill”.
“Hence, they are killing whosoever they are able to catch. They picked up Atiq’s sons the very first day. Both the sons are studying (in school). One of them will be killed… you will see… in a day or two,” he said.
No one, Yadav added, can take away someone’s life without legal recourse. “Whenever a new regime comes to power, the people carrying out fake encounters will have to go to jail.”
Meanwhile, BSP supremo Mayawati took to Twitter to say that there were serious doubts over whether the government would resort to a “Vikas Dubey-like episode to hide its failure”.
“…The entire country is watching if the government will follow the rule of law or stop crime by killing the criminals on road,” she wrote.
The BSP chief had earlier said the party will not take any action against Parveen until the investigation establishes her role in the case.
“If found guilty, Parveen will be expelled from the party immediately,” Mayawati had said.
Also Read: Why ‘Bulldozer baba’ Yogi Adityanath keeps using the machine for law and order