While being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati Jail on Wednesday, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is an accused in Umesh Pal murder case, thanked the media and said that he is safe because of them.
When asked by the media if he was scared, he replied, “aap logo ka shukriya (thanks to all of you).”
“It's because of you (the media) that I am safe,” he said.
When asked about his family’s whereabouts and his involvement in the Umesh Pal murder case, he said, "My family has been ruined...I was in jail what will I know about it (Umesh Pal murder case)."
The Uttar Pradesh police convoy carrying gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj stopped in Rajasthan's Dungarpur district for nearly an hour Tuesday evening after one of the vehicles in it developed a mechanical issue, officials said.
Ahmad was kept in the lock-up at Bichhiwara police station during the time the vehicle was repaired, they said
The convoy later left for Prayagraj, said Bichhiwara police station ASI Nara Singh.
Singh said Ahmad was placed under tight security at the police station.
All about the case against Atiq Ahmad
The 60-year-old former Uttar Pradesh MLA and Lok Sabha member is being brought to Prayagraj for a court hearing in connection with a criminal case.
On March 26, the UP Police had brought Ahmad to Prayagraj from Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad for hearing in the 2006 case Umesh Pal kidnapping case. Two days later, the court sentenced him and two others to life imprisonment in the kidnapping case.
On March 29, Ahmad was taken back to Sabarmati jail.
In April 2019, the Supreme Court ordered authorities to shift Ahmad to a high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal from a jail in Uttar Pradesh.
Ahmad has been named in more than 100 criminal cases. Among the most sensational cases Ahmad is allegedly involved is that of Raju Pal, the Bahujan Samaj Party MLA who was shot dead in 2005.
Umesh Pal, a key witness in this murder case, was gunned down outside his residence in Prayagraj on February 24 this year.
Last month, Ahmad moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming he and his family have been falsely implicated as accused in the Umesh Pal murder case and he could be killed in a fake encounter by the UP Police.
In his plea, Ahmad said the UP Police were in all likelihood seeking his transit remand and police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he "genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period".
(With PTI Inputs)
