Prayagraj witness murder: House where Atiq’s wife lived razed

Shaista Parveen, her husband Atiq Ahmad and their two sons have been accused of the murder of Umesh Pal and his gunner in broad daylight in the Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj on February 24. The police have said Umesh Pal was a prime witness in the 2005 murder of then-BSP legislator Raju Pal. Atiq’s younger brother and former MLA Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf and two others have also been named in the FIR.

While Atiq Ahmed is lodged in a jail in Gujarat, Ashraf is in Bareilly Central Jail. The police have said Shaista Parveen is on run and raids are being conducted to trace her.

When contacted, a PDA senior official said, “The order to demolish a portion of Jafar Ahmed’s house was passed after it was found during the inquiry that construction was done without completing formalities.”

“We are investigating if Atiq’s money was invested in the house in which Jafar Ahmed was staying. For the past year, Shaista Parveen was staying in the house along with her children. She shifted there after the district administration demolished her house over a year AGO,” said a senior police official.

He added they have not found any role of Jafar in the murder case of Umesh Pal and his gunner so far.

On Monday, while hearing a petition filed by Shaista Parveen alleging the police “illegally” took away her two minor sons on February 24 and that she has no information about them since then, the court directed the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj to file a reply by Thursday.

Meanwhile, the police said that they are conducting raids to arrest five people, including Atiq’s son who is pursuing a law degree from an institute in Lucknow. The role of these five people has come to light as the police scanned CCTV footage of the murder spot and questioned Sadakat Khan, who was arrested on Monday.