Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): In the 2005 murder case of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, the prime witness Umesh Pal was shot dead on Friday in broad daylight outside his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj. The CCTV footage of the incident, which has gone viral on social media shows the miscreants murdering the prime witness.
The footage shows two people getting down from a white vehicle as soon as the traffic stops and they start firing at Umesh Pal. Several other attackers were fielded near a local vegetable cart and a grocery shop opened fire and also hurled smoke bombs to disguise themselves in dense smoke. One of the attackers is seen posing as a customer of a shop and later joined the attack.
Police on Saturday registered an FIR against the main accused Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, his wife Shaista Parveen, two sons Guddu and Ghulam, and nine others over the statement of Pal's wife Jaya. One of the attackers was hit in the firing and later died, police said. They have been booked under sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 506, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Explosive Substances Act and the Criminal Law Amendment Act.
In the FIR, Jaya Pal alleged that her husband was the prime witness in the murder case of Raju Pal. In 2006, Atiq Ahmed and his aides kidnapped him and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Pal had earlier registered a case against the matter and the police investigation was underway. She further alleged that Umesh Pal, his nephew, and two security personnel were attacked by Atiq Ahmed's sons, Guddu, Ghulam and their nine aides with bullets and bombs on Friday after they were returning from a court. The FIR also alleged that a conspiracy was hatched by Atiq Ahmed against Umesh Pal, which was carried out by the former MP's sons and aides.
Pal and his security personnel sustained severe injuries in the attack. They were rushed to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital where Umesh Pal succumbed while undergoing treatment, the police said. Efforts were being made to identify the attackers based on CCTV footage and several teams have been formed to investigate all aspects of the case, the police said.
