Lucknow: Under fire from the opposition Samajwadi Party over Friday's murder of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA murder case, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said he will “demolish the mafia” involved in the murder. Pal was shot dead outside his residence while his gunner, who was injured in the attack, too, succumbed later, Pal was the prime witness in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal in 2005.
One of his gunners, who, too, was hit in the firing, died later. Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail is the main accused in the Raju Pal murder case. Police registered a case against several people, including former MP Atiq Ahmed in the case. The Umesh Pal murder case found its echo in the Budget session of the UP Assembly on Saturday.
Also read: Former MP named in FIR after key witness in BSP MLA murder case shot dead
The Samajwadi Party called it a failure of law and order in the state. CM Yogi Adityanath while lashing out at the opposition, said that he would “destroy the mafia involved in the murder”. The CM said that Atiq Ahmed accused by the victim's family, is “part of the mafia fostered by the Samajwadi Party and we are working towards breaking its back?"
He said Atiq is the “godfather of all professional criminals and mafia”. “They have crime in their veins, but we will completely demolish this mafia," the Chief Minister said. CM Yogi said that the zero-tolerance policy being adopted against the mafia will bring results. “He is a mafia supported by the SP and our government has done the work of breaking his back."
The Samajwadi Party first gives protection to the mafia, garlands it, and then also creates a spectacle,” he said. As the CM started replying to the Governor's address, the opposition interrupted him and created a ruckus in the well of the House while demanding action in the Umesh Pal murder case. Talking to the media, Leader of the Opposition Akhilesh Yadav put the state government in the dock for Umesh's murder.
He said that the way the incident took place in Prayagraj, “it has become clear that this government has completely failed”. “Now a situation like a gang war is developing in the state. Is this Ramrajya where guns are being used openly? This incident is completely a failure of the police and BJP is responsible for it,” he said.
Akhilesh also shared the purported CCTV footage of Friday's murder of Umesh Pal. In the CCTV footage, a man can be seen talking to the shopkeeper when a few men outside the shop start indiscriminate firing on the man to the left, believed to be Umesh Pal. The man inside the shop also comes out with a pistol and starts firing at Pal.
