Prayagraj: A 45-member team of Uttar Pradesh Police will shift gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is currently lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail, to Prayagraj jail, an official said on Sunday, March 26. Gangster Atiq Ahmed will be produced in Prayagraj’s MP MLA court at 11 am on March 28, an order copy said. Ahmed is the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.
Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security personnel were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year. The Prayagraj Police team reached the Sabarmati jail today to transport him to Prayagraj jail.
Umesh Pal and one of his armed security escorts were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 while he was returning home from court. On March 17, after completing the hearing in the court, the decision was reserved.
The order was issued by Judge DC Shukla of MP MLA Court on March 23 to produce Atiq Ahmed for a hearing. Umesh was also a key witness in the murder of former BSP leader Raju Pal and had an old rivalry with Mafia Don Atiq Ahmad.
Former SP leader Atiq Ahmed, his wife, son and associates have been named in the FIR concerning the murder. At present, about 100 cases are going on against Atiq and in one of them the sentence is to be pronounced on March 28.
Prayagraj court on Wednesday, March 22 sent five persons, including gangster Atiq Ahmed’s driver, to 14 days of judicial custody in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. Niyaz Ahmed, Mohammad Sazar, Kaish Ahmed, Rakesh Kumar, and Mohammad Arshad Khan alias Arshad Katra were sent to 14 days of judicial custody.
The five persons were arrested from the area under the limits of Dhumanganj Police Station on Tuesday, March 21. Out of the five accused, Kaish Ahmed was working as a driver with Atiq Ahmed’s family for the last 16 years, police said. The two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal’s murder have been killed in encounters with Uttar Pradesh Police.
Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman was killed in the encounter that took place in Kaundhiyara in Prayagraj. Addressing a press conference earlier, ADG Prashant Kumar said that the killed accused had a bounty of Rs 50,000 in his name. “On February 24, Arbaaz was killed in a police encounter and on February 27, mastermind Sadaqat was sent to jail Usmaan got injured during an encounter and was admitted to the hospital where he died,” he said.
Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said that Atiq is to be produced before a court on March 28 in connection with a kidnapping case, the verdict of which is slated to be pronounced on the same day. “Court has fixed March 28 as the date for the pronouncing the verdict in an old kidnapping case…All the accused have to be produced before the Court in this matter. To produce Mafia Atiq Ahmed before Court, an accused in this case, a Police team has been sent to Sabarmati jail,” the Commissioner said.
DG (prisons) Anand Kumar said preparations have been made for Atiq in the Prayagraj jail. The jailed politician will be kept in a high-security barrack with a round-the-clock CCTV camera for surveillance.
“Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed will be kept in isolation in a high-security barrack at the jail. His cell will have a CCTV camera. Jail staff will be chosen & deployed on the basis of their records, they will have body-worn cameras,” Kumar said.
“Prayagraj Jail office and Jail HQ will monitor round the clock through a video wall. DIG Jail HQ is being sent to ensure all the arrangements at Prayagraj Jail,” he added. ( With Inputs ANI)
