Witness in BSP MLA murder case killed, 2 guards injured in attack

The prime accused in the MLA Raju Pal’s murder are jailed former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, alias Khalid Azim, a former MLA. The CBI had taken over the case from the police on the Supreme Court’s orders and the trial is still going on in a Lucknow court. Police said Atiq Ahmed is also accused in the 2017 case of kidnapping of Umesh Pal. Trial in that case is going on in Prayagraj, they added.

On Friday afternoon, assailants attacked Umesh Pal when he, accompanied by the two guards, got down from his vehicle. They fired several rounds at Pal and the two from behind.

The CCTV footage from the locality shows Umesh falling on the ground and getting up before running inside his house. Two of the assailants are seen chasing and firing at him. While one of the injured guards is seen lying near the vehicle, the other is seen running inside and being fired at. The footage also shows both Umesh and a guard lying on the porch of the house.

Before fleeing the crime scene, the attackers hurled bombs at Umesh and the guard. They also hurled a bomb outside the house.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said they are recording the statements of Umesh’s family members. Ten police teams have been formed to search for the shooters, he added.

In 2017, Umesh had accused Atiq Ahmed and his brother of threatening and assaulting him when he had gone to record his statement in a kidnapping case. The same year, he accused Atiq and others of kidnapping and pressurising him him to retract his statement in the Raju Pal murder case.

Atiq Ahmed is lodged in a Gujarat jail on the Supreme Court’s direction while Ashraf is in a Bareilly jail. The two police guards were provided to Umesh after he complained of threat to his life.

Soon after the attack, residents of Dhomanganj staged a protest on Friday demanding arrest of the attackers. Police claimed to have detained some people for questioning in connection with the shootout.

“We are trying to identify the assailants involved in the attack,” said Prayagraj Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Deepak Bhuker.

Raju Pal’s wife Pooja Pal is Samajwadi Party MLA from the Chail seat of adjoining Kaushambi district. Pal and his two associates were shot dead on January 25, 2005, when they were attacked in the Dhoomanganj area. In the attack, three persons had got injured.

The main motive behind the murder was said to be the Assembly bypoll, in which Raju Pal had defeated Ashraf from the Allahabad (West) seat. It had fallen vacant after Atiq won the Lok Sabha seat from Allahabad in the 2004 elections.

In the Raju Pal murder case, an FIR was lodged against a total of 11 people, including Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. The incident took place nine days after Raju Pal got married to Pooja.