Umesh Pal Murder Case: STF Arrests Atiq Ahmed's Brother-in-law For Harbouring Shooters In Meerut

The STF arrested Akhlaq, who is a resident of the Nauchandi region in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. He helped the shooter and Atiq Ahmed's son Asad in absconding after murdering Umesh Pal.

Atiq Ahmed was convicted on March 28 in connection with the abduction of now-deceased Umesh Pal. ( Image Source :PTI )

The Special Task Force (STF) arrested politician-turned-gangster Atiq Ahmed's brother-in-law Akhlaq from Meerut on Sunday. The STF team of the Uttar Pradesh police arrested him for allegedly harbouring shooters and assisting them in escape after committing crimes, reported news agency ANI.

Akhlaq is a resident of the Nauchandi region in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut. He helped the shooter and Atiq Ahmed's son Asad in absconding after murdering Umesh Pal, said ANI citing sources.

Atiq Ahmed was convicted by an MP-MLA court on March 28 in connection with the abduction of now-deceased Umesh Pal. The court had sentenced him to rigorous life imprisonment.

This was a major breakthrough as Ahmed has been convicted for the first time in over 43 years. He has more than 100 cases against him.

Apart from him, the court also sentenced Dinesh Pasi and Khan Saulat Hanif and imposed a fine of Rs, 5000 on each of the three convicts.

A total of seven others were been acquitted. There were a total of 10 accused in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case.

All three convicts have been imposed with rigorous life imprisonment and a fine of one lakh rupees each. The amount from this fine will be given to the family members of Umesh Pal.

During the argument, the prosecution demanded the maximum sentence. On behalf of Atiq Ahmed, the lawyer cited his illness, age and urged for a lesser sentence adding that Atiq was a public representative.

Atiq was brought to Prayagaj's Naini Central jail on Monday from Gujarat while Ashraf was brought to the city jail from Bareilly.

Atiq Ahmed is a gangster-turned-politician who was also an Allahabad West MLA from 1989-2004. He also served as a Lok Sabha MP from the Phulpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.

Born on August 10, 1962, Atiq Ahmed is named in over 100 cases. His brother Ashraf has 52 cases, his wife Shaista Praveen has three, and his sons Ali and Umar Ahmad have four and one case, respectively, against them.

Atiq Ahmed first won the Allahabad West seat as an independent candidate in the 1989 UP Assembly election. He went on to win the next two elections as well.

He switched to the Samajwadi Party in 1993 and then moved to Apna Dal in 1999. He quit the Apna Dal in 2003 to go back to Samjwadi Party, where he remained till his arrest in 2018.