The Uttar Pradesh police has announced a cash bounty of Rs 2.5 lakh as reward on finding those accused in the murder of Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case.
The accused have been identified as Asad Ahmad, Armaan, Ghulam, Guddu Muslim and Sabir. "Many teams of UP police are constantly trying to arrest the accused," the police said.
Umesh Pal was shot dead by an unidentified man while he was getting out of a Hyundai Creta SUV in Prayagraj, the camera footage showed. Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma told reporters that 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.
The police said that eight teams have been formed to investigate every aspect of the incident and arrest those behind the attack. The main accused in the murder, Atiq Ahmed, is currently lodged in a Gujarat Jail.
The other key accused in the killing of Umesh Pal, 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.
Demolitions
Following the encounter, the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) officials began bulldozing the houses of those allegedly linked to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed.
On Friday, officials arrived at the house of Mashookuddin, said to be closely associated with Atiq Ahmed and has dozens of cases registered against him, in Puramufti area on Friday afternoon with bulldozers and other heavy-duty earth movers and began pulling down the structure, as it was built illegally, they said. Officials cited the same reason for demolishing the houses of his other two aides.
(With PTI inputs)
