Lucknow: Four months after slain gangster Atiq Ahmed’s lawyer Shaulat Hanif along with Atiq and others was handed life term in the Umesh Pal abduction case, another lawyer who represented Ahmed and gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh.
Vijay Mishra was arrested from near a five-star hotel in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar on the intervening night of 29-30 July, in connection with the murder of BJP leader and property dealer Umesh Pal.
Mishra is also facing a case of extortion lodged in May.
According to the police, Mishra was wanted in connection with the case lodged in the Dhoomanganj police station against a group of members of the Atiq Ahmed gang who had killed Umesh Pal and two of his gunners in Prayagraj on 24 February.
A statement from the UP Police said that the Dhoomanganj police arrested Mishra, a resident of Kakra area, who was wanted in connection with the Umesh Pal murder.
Lawyer Vijay Mishra, who was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, has been arrested by a team of the Dhoomanganj police and further legal proceedings are on in the case,” DCP (Nagar) Deepak Bhuker said in a video statement Sunday.
The case was lodged under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal Intimidation), 34 (common intention), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and relevant sections of the Explosives Act, Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
While four accused in the Umesh Pal shooting were killed in encounters, Atiq and his brother Ashraf were shot down by three assailants on the night of April 15.
Also Read: Why police think Atiq Ahmed went after Umesh Pal — ‘backstabbing’, property rivalry, court cases
Represented Atiq, Ashraf & Mukhtar in multiple cases
Before the killings of Atiq and Ashraf, Mishra had been representing the brothers in some cases. He had also represented Ashraf’s wife Ayesha Noori when she filed a surrender application before the CJM court in Prayagraj on 11 April.
Mishra had termed the killings of Atiq and Ashraf “a political conspiracy” as part of which the security cover of the duo was reduced. “They (the families of Atiq and Ashraf) feel that it is a political conspiracy because those involved in the shootout did not have the financial status to be able to buy a pistol worth Rs 20 lakh,” he had told a media channel.
Alleging negligence on the part of the Prayagraj police, Mishra had pointed out that “earlier there used to be a huge security cover for Atiq and Ashraf, but on Saturday (15 April), they were only surrounded by a few constables, two inspectors and a sub-inspector” when the shootout took place.
“It is a political conspiracy due to which the security cover was reduced,” he alleged.
Mishra had also been representing gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in some cases when the MP/MLA courts were functioning out of Prayagraj, Prayagraj lawyers told ThePrint.
K.K. Mishra, a Prayagraj-based lawyer, told ThePrint that Mishra was representing Mukhtar in some cases before the MP/MLA courts shifted to other districts.
In May, Prayagraj police had booked Mishra for allegedly making extortion demands from a plywood trader based in Dariyabad area of the city.
The trader had alleged that after failing to pay his dues on time, Mishra demanded Rs 3 crore and threatened him with severe consequences.
Subsequently, an FIR was lodged under Section 386 (committing extortion by putting any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt to that person or to any other), 504
(insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 507 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. Later, Mishra had written to the Prayagraj Bar Association alleging that the police had pressured the trader to file a complaint against him.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
Also Read: Stop making Atiq Ahmed a Muslim hero. He was no Robin Hood for us