Prayagraj (UP): Gangster Atiq Ahmed, two of his associates have been convicted in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case, who was the prime witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.The court will also announce his sentence shortly.
At the same time, the court has acquitted the remaining seven accused. Earlier, Bahubali Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf were presented in the court.
The two were scheduled to appear today in connection with the kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a witness in the murder case of the then Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal in 2005.
Tight security was put in place outside the court and jail premises in view of the appearance of Atiq and Ashraf. The brothers were brought to Prayagraj on Monday from two different jails.
Atiq and Ashraf are also accused of being involved in a conspiracy in the murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness to his murder in 2005 last month. Umesh Pal and two policemen guarding him were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24.
A case was registered against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, associates Guddu Muslim and Ghulam and nine others at Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj on the complaint of Pal’s wife Jaya.
This was the case
After the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal on January 25, 2005, the then zila panchayat member Umesh Pal had told the police that he was an eyewitness to the murder.
Umesh had alleged that he was kidnapped on February 28, 2006 after he refused to back down and bow down under pressure from Atiq Ahmed.
An FIR was registered on July 5, 2007 against Atiq, his brother Ashraf and four unidentified persons in the case. The charge sheet filed in the court in the case mentions 11 accused.