Prayagraj Murder: Court allows Investigating Officer to question 5 arrested accused in jail today
On Sunday, the UP Police's Special Task Force (STF) team, which is assisting Prayagraj police in the investigation, arrested Atiq Ahmed's brother-in-law, Dr Akhlaq Ahmed, for murder conspiracy and allegedly providing logistical support and shelter to one of the wanted assailants, Guddu Muslim, after the murder.
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The five — Kaish Ahmed, Mohammad Niyaz Ahmed, Rakesh Kumar alias Lala, Mohammad Arshad Khan and Mohammad Sajar — were arrested on March 21 and sent to judicial custody. (Representational/File) A Prayagraj court on Monday allowed the investigating officer of the Umesh Pal murder case to question five arrested accused in the jail on Tuesday. Till now, police have arrested eight persons in connection with the February 24 murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police bodyguards.
The five — Kaish Ahmed, Mohammad Niyaz Ahmed, Rakesh Kumar alias Lala, Mohammad Arshad Khan and Mohammad Sajar — were arrested on March 21 and sent to judicial custody. “On the Investigating Officer’s petition seeking police custody remand of the five accused, the court allowed him to question them from 9 am to 3 pm tomorrow (Tuesday) inside the jail,” Government Counsel (Prayagraj) Gulab Chand Agrihari said.
One of the five accused, Kaish Ahmed, was a driver of former MP Atiq Ahmed, who is the prime accused in the murder case and is currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat. The five were arrested on the charge of helping the shooters before the murder.
On Sunday, the UP Police’s Special Task Force (STF) team, which is assisting Prayagraj police in the investigation, arrested Atiq Ahmed’s brother-in-law, Dr Akhlaq Ahmed, for murder conspiracy and allegedly providing logistical support and shelter to one of the wanted assailants, Guddu Muslim, after the murder.
Dr Akhlaq, 59, was posted at a community health centre (CHC) in Meerut. Purported videos of Guddu Muslim entering Dr Akhlaq’s house in the Nauchandi area of Meerut and meeting his family members went viral on social media following his arrest. The arrest was made on the basis of surveillance of phones and the CCTV footage, a police officer said.
“During the probe, it came to light that Guddu Muslim stayed at Dr Akhlaq’s house in Meerut for around 11 to 12 hours on March 5. Later, Guddu Muslim was dropped at a bus stand. He claimed to have given Rs 50,000 to Guddu Muslim. We suspect it could be part of the conspiracy and Guddu Muslim went to Dr Akhlaq’s house to collect money from him,” said a senior police officer.
Police also arrested Atiq’s servant, 26-year-old Sharukh, for allegedly providing logistical help to the accused involved in the murders. Sharukh used to stay at Atiq’s residence. “Dr Akhlaq and Shahrukh have been booked for murder conspiracy. They were produced before a local court of Prayagraj and sent to judicial custody,” Station House Officer (Dhoomanganj) Rajesh Kumar Maurya.
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