Gangster Atiq Ahmed's Relative Arrested In UP

Prayagraj: In a major development in the Umesh Pal murder case, the Special Task Force (STF) arrested gangster Atiq Ahmed's brother-in-law, Akhlaq, from Meerut, as per the police sources.

Mr Akhlaq was arrested for allegedly harbouring shooters and helping them escape after the crime. He is a resident of the Nauchandi area in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut.

According to police sources, after murdering Umesh Pal, the shooter and Asad, Atiq Ahmed's son, absconded with the help of Akhlaq.

Further details are awaited in the case.

Mafia don-turned-politician, Atiq Ahmed was convicted by an MP-MLA court on March 28 and sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment in the kidnapping case of Umesh Pal.

It marked the first time that Atiq Ahmed, who has over 100 cases registered against him over the last 43 years, was convicted in a case.

Apart from Atiq Ahmed, the court gave life sentences to Dinesh Pasi and Khan Saulat Hanif and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on each of the three convicts.

Seven others accused in the case, including Ashraf, Atiq Ahmed's brother, were acquitted.

Mr Ahmed's conviction came after Umesh Pal, an advocate and a prime witness in the 2005 murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24, 2023. He is accused of conspiring to murder in the Umesh Pal murder case. Apart from Umesh Pal, his two security personnel were also shot dead.

Atiq Ahmed, a former MP and Member of Legislative Assembly, 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.

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