The former DGP (Director General of Police) of Uttar Pradesh, OP Singh has made shocking claims amid the controversy around the murder of Umesh Pal, a key eyewitness to the 2005 murder of BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) MLA-Raju Pal.
In addition, he believed that the notorious gangster Atiq Ahmed was involved in the case.
The Police officer said that under political pressure, he could not encounter Atiq Ahmed and his terror which he could have done long ago without any problem.
In an exclusive interview with India Today, the former DGP claimed that- “He and his team of police personnel raided Atiq’s Den in 1989-1990 in response to an FIR filed against him when he was the Superintendent of Police of Prayagraj (former Allahabad).”
“At that point, he and his team were surrounded and encircled by thousands of Atiq’s men who were set to shoot them,” he said.
He stated that “the entire police party would have been shot down by mafia men if he hadn’t informed Atiq that if his supporters fired even one shot at the police party, both Atiq and his supporters would be shot down by the police.”
OP Singh claimed that “He wanted to arrest and shoot Atiq and his gang right there, but political pressure compelled his team to return without making any arrests. He claimed that if Atiq had been detained or killed following an encounter with the police, the situation would not have become such a mess.”
Moreover, he stated that “the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) leaders and people of Allahabad praised his work too, but the mafia’s backing by the ruling party caused him to become one of the most famous gangsters in Uttar Pradesh.”
He said- “On February 24, 2023, Umesh Pal who was an eye-witness of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal was shot in his residence in Prayagraj. He was taken to a hospital but he died during treatment.”
He continued- “Based on the complaint filed by Umesh’s wife Jaya Pal, Atiq, Ashraf, his wife Shaista Parveen and two sons Guddu and Gulam.”
“The accused have been booked under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Explosive Substances Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act,” he said.
He further added that “the Umesh Pal case triggered a heated debate between BJP and SP. The Uttar Pradesh assembly in February after CM Yogi Adityanath said that SP was harbouring criminals and mafia in the state.”
The DGP stated- “Atiq Ahmed is a five-time MLA from Allahabad. He won as an independent in 1989, 1991 and 1993. In 2008, he was expelled from Samajwadi Party and lost in the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections from Apna Dal.”
Before the Lok Sabha Elections in 2014, he was again inducted into the SP. He contested the polls from Shravasti in UP but lost there too. Apart from the Raju Pal Murder case, Atiq is facing several other criminal cases of assault, kidnapping, torture, etc.
