Umesh Pal Murder Case: The Uttar Pradesh police is working with full strength to catch the killers of Umesh Pal who was shot dead in broad daylight in February. The department has sent around 9 cops out of Prayagraj as they were in touch with the Atiq Ahmed gang in some way or another.
The police have also informed the officials of seven states where Atiq’s wife Shahista and his son Asad could likely be. These include Delhi, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, and Jharkhand.
Atiq Ahmed’s wife and son, and other accused in the case are on the run since the police launched a massive manhunt to catch them. Notably, there has been constant pressure on Uttar Pradesh police which so far has no information on the whereabouts of any of the accused and no arrest has been made in the case yet.
Two of the accused were killed in an encounter with police in Prayagraj.
Meanwhile, the demolition drive against the shooters is underway in the state with authorities continuing to demolish their properties.
The Uttar Pradesh Police earlier increased the reward for those proving any information on the five accused to Rs 5 lakh, reported PTI citing an official. He added that it includes information on former MP Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, apart from four others Arman, Gulam, Guddu and Sabir.
The reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, has been increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh, a senior police official told PTI on Monday.
According to PTI, the police registered a case against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others on the basis of a complaint by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal.
Two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal's murder, Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman, were killed by the police in encounters on February 27 and March 6 respectively.
Arbaaz was shot by the district police and the Special Operations Group of the Uttar Pradesh Police at Prayagraj's Nehru Park.
Arbaaz was surrounded by police teams following an intelligence input, Deputy Commissioner of Police Navendu Kumar told PTI. He was the driver of the white SUV that the attackers used to attack witness Umesh Pal.
Atiq Ahmed is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail.
Umesh Pal was shot dead in the Sulem Sarai area of the city under Dhoomanganj Police Station on February 24. He was the prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal who was also shot dead in the same area, and Umesh was returning to his home after giving his final statement in the case. His police security guard Sandeep Nishad had also died in the shootout.