Umesh Pal murder: Reward on Atiq Ahmed's wife Shaista Parveen doubles to Rs 50,000

In a bid to nab absconding Shaista Parveen, the wife of Atiq Ahmed, the Uttar Pradesh police late on Friday announced that the reward for Shaista has been increased to Rs 50,000.

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): The Uttar Pradesh police have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of Shaista Parveen, wife of jailed gangster Atiq Ahmed, in connection with the murder of advocate Umesh Pal. The key witness in the BSP MLA murder case was shot dead outside his house in February 2005.

Umesh’s wife Jaya had filed a complaint against Atiq Ahmed, his wife Parveen, brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim, Ghulam and nine others.

The police had initially announced a reward of Rs 25,000 for information leading to Parveen's arrest. However, with no success, they have now doubled the reward to Rs 50,000. Officials are on the lookout for Parveen and the other absconding accused.

The police and Special Task Force (STF) recently recovered video footage that showed Parveen with Umesh Pal's shooter. The footage was reportedly captured around five days before Umesh Pal's murder. It was revealed that Parveen had gone to the house of one of the shooters.

The police have already announced a reward of Rs 2.6 lakh on the heads of Umesh Pal's shooters. The police have deployed several teams to search for the absconding accused. Umesh Pal's two security guards had also died later during treatment.

Atiq Ahmed is a gangster-turned-politician and has been in jail for several years. His wife Shaista Parveen has been on the run since the murder of Umesh Pal. A case has been registered against her at the Dhumanganj police station.

The murder of Umesh Pal had caused a stir in the state, with many demanding justices for the key witness in the BSP MLA murder case. The police have been under immense pressure to solve the case and arrest all the accused. With the increase in the reward for Parveen's arrest, the police are hoping to get more leads on her whereabouts.