LUCKNOW/JHANSI, April 13 (PTI): Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad and an accomplice, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police in Jhansi on Thursday, officials said.
“Asad and Ghulam were wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj and were carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakh each. They were killed in an encounter with an UP STF team,” said Special Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar.
“Sophisticated foreign made weapons were recovered from the accused. Further details are awaited,” he said, adding the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force team was led by deputy superintendents of police Navendu Kumar and Vimal Kumar.
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The encounter took place on a day Ahmad was presented before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Prayagraj in the murder case and was sent to 14-day judicial custody.
Visuals showed two bodies lying beside a motorbike at the site of the alleged encounter. An ambulance later took them away.
STF officials said Asad and Ghulam were on the run since the murder of Umesh Pal on February 24. Several STF teams were pressed to track them down.
On Thursday, they were trying to flee on a motorcycle when they were intercepted by an STF team in Jhansi, the officials said, adding they opened fire on the personnel and were killed in retaliatory firing.
Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder case of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj area on February 24 this year.
His wife Jaya Pal had filed a case on February 25 against Atiq Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, Asad, Ghulam and others.
Reacting on the news of encounter, Umesh Pal’s family thanked chief minister Yogi Adityanath and the police administration.
“Whatever they have done is right. He (the CM) has punished the killer of his daughter’s husband. I express my gratitude. He is like a father. Justice has been done,” Jaya told the media, adding she hoped strict action would be taken against other accused.
When asked against who else she wanted action, she said, “I leave that to the government. The government is giving me justice.”
Umesh Pal’s mother said, “The two gunners who were killed in broad daylight today had committed a sin. They have been punished today. We have faith, we will get complete justice.”
Deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya congratulated the Uttar Pradesh Police and the STF for the action. “Nobody will touch you if you don’t commit a crime. And nobody will be spared if they Commit a crime,” he told PTI.
He said this was a BJP government and not an SP government that criminals would be spared.
The FIR in the Umesh Pal murder cases was lodged under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.
Atiq Ahmad is also an accused in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case.
