One of the key accused in the killing of Umesh Pal, a witness in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case, was shot dead by the state police in an encounter near Prayagraj.
The accused, Arbaz, was the one driving the car on the day the witness was murdered. Deputy Commissioner of Police Navendu Kumar told PTI that the accused was surrounded by police teams following an intelligence input. He opened fire on the police team and was injured in the ensuing encounter in Nehru Park under Dhoomanganj police station at around 3 pm. He was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead, the officer said.
Umesh Pal was shot dead at his residence in Prayagraj on February 25 by an unidentified man while he was getting out of a Hyundai Creta SUV in Prayagraj, the camera footage showed. Raju Pal, BSP MLA from Allahabad West, was shot dead on January 25, 2005, in broad daylight.
He was murdered just three months after winning the assembly seat in Allahabad (West) and defeated Atiq Ahmed's younger brother. In the incident, two others, Devi Pal and Sandeep Yadav were also killed, and two more were seriously injured.
The incident was reported at Dhoomanganj Police Station in Prayagraj by Pooja Pal, Raju Pal’s wife. The investigation was initially conducted by police and CBCID but was later taken over by the CBI on January 22, 2016, at the Supreme Court’s order.
Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma told reporters that Umesh Pal was attacked with crude bombs and shot outside his house. Two of his gunners who were deployed by the government for the MLA's security too were injured in the attack. One of them succumbed at the hospital.
(With inputs from PTI)
