Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed's brother Ashraf expressed fears of being killed in the near within the next two weeks as revealed by an officer on Tuesday. Ashraf had been acquitted in the kidnapping case of Umesh Pal in 2006.
"I have been threatened by an officer that I'll be taken out of jail in 2 weeks and will be killed," said Ashraf when he was brought to Bareilly jail on Tuesday.
Claiming that the threat was given by a senior official he said that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath understands his pain as fake cases were also filed against him. He also added that the name of the official will be divulged to the Chief Minister, Chief Justice of India and also to the Chief Justice of Allahabad.
"This threat was given by a senior officer. I cannot tell his name, but if I am killed, then the closed envelope will reach the Chief Minister and Supreme Court Chief Justice and Allahabad Chief Justice, it will contain his name," Ashraf said.
Ashraf along with Atiq Ahmed was held guilty in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case by Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj MP-MLA Court on Tuesday which also sentenced Atiq to rigorous life imprisonment in the abduction case of now-deceased Umesh Pal.
Ashraf was shifted to Bareilly jail while Atiq is being brought to Gujarat's Sabarmati jail. This is the first time that Atiq Ahmed, who has over 100 cases against him over the last 43 years, has been convicted in a case.
The court also gave life sentences to Dinesh Pasi and Khan Saulat Hanif and also imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the three convicts. Seven other accused in the case, including Ashraf, brother of Atiq Ahmed, have been acquitted.
Ahmed's conviction comes after Umesh Pal, an advocate and a prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year. Ahmed is also the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Apart from Umesh Pal, his two security personnel were also shot dead.
Ahmed, a former MP and MLA, was brought by Uttar Pradesh Police from Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Jail to Prayagraj's Naini jail on Monday after an over 24-hour long drive. Shanti Devi, the mother of Umesh Pal, said after the court's verdict that Ahmed should have been given a death sentence for "killing" her son.
"He (Atiq Ahmed) was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping my son but he should be given a death sentence for killing my son. I have faith in UP CM Yogi Adityanath and the judicial system," she told reporters.
BSP MLA Raju Pal was murdered on January 25, 2005. Two others Devilal Pal and Sandeep Yadav were also killed. Umesh Pal was abducted on February 28, 2006. He was allegedly abducted by Atiq Ahmed from a Land Cruiser vehicle near Phansi Imli of the Dhumanganj police station area.
He was "beaten up and electrocuted" and Atiq had "forced Umesh Pal to give a written statement in his favour on March 1, 2006, that he was not present at the scene and did not want to testify". Umesh Pal filed a case of kidnapping at Dhumanganj police station in July 2007 after the formation of the BSP government in Uttar Pradesh that year.
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