Lucknow: In a fresh development in the murder case of BJP leader Umesh Pal, who was killed in Prayagraj earlier this year, a team of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) Thursday shot dead one the sons of alleged-gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his “accomplice” Ghulam (identified only by his first name), both of whom had been reportedly identified as shooters in the case by Prayagraj police.
Sharing information about the encounter, additional director general of police (ADG), STF, Amitabh Yash, said Atiq’s son — identified by the police as Asad — and Ghulam, were both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case and were carrying a reward of Rs. 5 lakh each. They were killed in an encounter with a team of UP STF led by deputy superintendent of police (DySp) Navendu Kumar and DySP Vimal Kumar at Jhansi, Yash added.
The ADG further said that “sophisticated foreign-made weapons were recovered from the accused”.
In a statement issued later, Yash said, that the two were tracked after much effort on the part of the police. “We were aware they were in possession of arms. The two were main shooters in the case (Umesh Pal case). The entire country had seen the CCTV footage of the incident,” he said.
He, however, did not mention the details of the circumstances leading to the encounter.
News of the encounter comes hours after Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were brought to Prayagraj by UP police and Atiq’s reported claim that “their mafiagiri had ended long back”.
The two were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court Thursday, which granted a four-day remand of the two to Prayagraj police. They are to be produced in court again on 17 April.
BJP leader Umesh Pal was one of the witnesses in the 2005 daylight murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, who was allegedly gunned down by Atiq’s men on 25 January, 2005.
On 24 February this year, Pal was shot dead in broad daylight. The BJP leader had become an eyesore for Atiq’s gang as reported by ThePrint earlier.
While the police had booked Atiq, his brother Ashraf, Atiq’s wife Shaista, three of Atiq’s sons, Ghulam (identified as a shooter) and Guddu Muslim (identified as a bomber) among others, in the Pal murder case, they later identified five people as his shooters. This included Asad and Ghulam.
Also read: Atiq Ahmed gets life for 2006 abduction — former MP’s 1st conviction in 130 cases over 44 years
‘Carried out shooting in adrenaline rush’
Asad who is a pass-out from a renowned English-medium school in Prayagraj was an undergraduate student at a Lucknow college and wanted to go abroad for studies, but his application for a passport was rejected thrice by Prayagraj police, police sources told ThePrint.
“He has no criminal history. This was his first crime. Asad seemed to have diverted from the plan on the fateful day. He stepped out of the car used to carry out the shooting in an adrenaline rush,” a senior UP STF officer had told ThePrint earlier.
After the incident, a video of Ghulam, who was identified as the brother of former BJP minority cell leader Rahil Hassan, had gone viral. In the video former BJP MLA from Meja, Neelam Karwariya, appeared to be cutting a birthday cake and offering a piece to Ghulam. Old photos of Ghulam with Karwariya had also gone viral on social media.
Meanwhile, Hassan had been removed from his post by the party following the Pal incident.
(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)