Umesh Pal murder case: In the latest development in the Umesh Pal murder case, another accused identified as Vijay Kumar alias Usman Chaudhary was killed in an encounter with Prayagraj police on Monday. The encounter broke out between the police and the accused in the Kaundhiyara police station area, said Ramit Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj on Monday.
Earlier on February 27, three days after the daylight murder of Umesh Pal, the main witness in the Raju Pal murder case, police gunned down an accused identified as Arbaaz.
Umesh Pal was the main witness in the Raju Pal murder case and his evidence was crucial to the case.The encounter took place in Nehru Park of Dhoomanganj area when the police was searching for the accused involved in Umesh Pal murder case. Cops reached Nehru Park on the basis of a tip-off.
According to reports, Arbaaz was a close aid of former Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Atiq Ahmad. Police said that Arbaaz was driving the car at the time Umesh Pal was murdered. Atiq has been named as an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Recently, Atiq Ahmad's wife Shaista Parveen has written a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding a CBI probe into the incident.
In the letter, Parveen claimed that she and her family has nothing to do with the killings, adding that a high-level inquiry will clear all doubts. Atiq Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, his two sons and wife Shaista Parveen have been named as accused in the murder case. Parveen has also uploaded the letter to the Chief Minister's portal.
Meanwhile, Atiq's lawyer Khan Saulat Haneef has claimed that there is a threat to the lives of the two sons of the former MP, a concern highlighted by Parveen in her letter as well.
Atiq's two sons have been kept in police detention. Haneef further said that police are conspiring to kill incarcerated Atiq and his brother Ashraf. Shaista has said that she will approach the court to seek security for her family.
Recently, Shaista joined the Bahujan Samaj Party. On the other hand, Puja Pal, the Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA whose husband Raju Pal was allegedly murdered by Atiq Ahmad's brother Ashraf in 2005, has written to UP CM Yogi, seeking enhanced security cover for herself. Puja Pal, referring to the Umesh Pal murder, said that she now fears for her life.
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