Umesh Pal Murder Case Encounter: Wanted To Capture Usman Alive, Those Giving Shelter Will Be Prosecuted, Says UP Police

ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar said that the police were trying to capture Usman alive. He also said the accused often used explosives to kill people in broad daylight.

New Delhi: Following the encounter of another accused Vijay alias Usman in the Umesh Pal murder case on Monday, ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar said that the police were trying to capture Usman alive. He also said the accused often used explosives to kill people in broad daylight. Prashant Kumar said the accused Vijay was injured in retaliatory firing by the police and was taken to the hospital.

He further said that some of the accused are still absconding and strict action will be taken against whoever gives shelter to them. Kumar said no matter wherever they go, they will be arrested and punished. He said that very soon more people will also be arrested. An encounter broke out earlier in the day between the police and one of the accused in the Umesh Pal murder case Vijay alias Usman in the Kaundhiyara police station area of Prayagraj.

Reacting to the development, UP deputy CM Brajesh Pathak told ANI, "Police & STF deployed to keep situation under control, & investigation is underway. Police shot the accused & are investigating. Everyone involved will get punished by the law." The Prayagraj police and authorities have been bulldozing the properties of the accused and close aides of Atiq Ahmad in different areas of the town. No one has been arrested in the case so far. 

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. 

Earlier on Feb 27, three days after the daylight murder of Umesh Pal, one of the main suspects in the case, shooter Arbaaz was killed by the police in an encounter. The Creta vehicle that was used in Umesh Pal's murder was driven by Arbaaz, according to the police. Accused 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. According to Kumar, he opened fire on the police and was wounded in the subsequent confrontation in Nehru Park under the Dhoomanganj police station at approximately 3 p.m. Arbaaz was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead, he added.