Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed said in a statement to the police that he has direct connections with "Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba". Prayagraj Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Thursday sent Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf to four-day police custody in the Umesh Pal murder case.
The police custody of the duo will end at 5 pm on April 17. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were brought to the CJM Court in Prayagraj on Thursday morning. The Uttar Pradesh police chargesheet filed before the court mentioned a recorded statement of Atiq Ahmed. The chargesheet mentioned Atiq's statement in which he said that he has no dearth of weapons because he has direct connections with Pakistan's ISI and the terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. He further said that weapons from Pakistan were dropped on the Punjab border with the help of drones and local connections collect them. The terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir get weapons from these consignments, he said.
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"If you take me with you, I can help you recover that money, arms, and ammunition used in the incident," he said. Meanwhile, Atiq Ahmed's son Asad and his aide Ghulam were killed in a police encounter by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Jhansi on Thursday. Both the deceased were wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case and were carrying a reward of Rs 5 lakhs each. The police said that foreign-made weapons were recovered from their possession.
Meanwhile, State's Special Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar revealed that teams of civil police and special forces were deployed following the intelligence inputs of a plan by Asad to free his father Atiq Ahmed by attacking a police convoy midway as the gangster-turned-politician was being brought Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh for hearing. "We had information that to help the accused Atiq and Ashraf escape there could be an attack on the police convoy bringing them back to UP in the case (Umesh Pal murder case). Given this information, teams of civil police and special forces were deployed," said Prashant Kumar.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting on 'law and order' after the killing of Asad and Ghulam in an encounter. CM Yogi also lauded the 12-member STF team involved in the shootout. (With Agency Inputs)
