Atiq Ahmad to be produced in court today, slain lawyer Umesh Pal’s kin seek death penalty

Day after he was brought from Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail amid tight security by the Uttar Pradesh police, gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad will be produced before the MP/MLA court in Prayagraj in the 2006 abduction of Umesh Pal.

Pal, the main witness in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party lawmaker Raju Pal, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24. Ahmad is the prime accused in the murder case along with his brother Ashraf.

Heavy security has been deployed outside Pal’s residence, whose family has demanded death sentence to the five-time MLA.

“…We don’t have the strength to fight a case in the time to come. He (Atiq Ahmed) should be sentenced to death by hanging. If he is sentenced to life imprisonment, he can do anything from jail. He got my son killed from jail. He won’t let us live if he remains there…” Umesh Pal’s mother Shanti Devi told ANI.

“I hope court sentences him (Atiq Ahmed) to death by hanging. If he lives, perhaps we won’t be able be alive. Maybe it would be us next. If he is gone only then will terror be gone…” the deceased lawyer’s wife Jaya Pal said.

Since Pal’s murder, the Uttar Pradesh Police have gunned down two alleged aides of Ahmad, while the Prayagraj administration has razed the houses of several others. On March 21, the UP Police arrested five aides of Ahmad said to be allegedly involved in the conspiracy to kill Umesh Pal and provided help to the assailants through different means.

On Monday, a 45-member Uttar Pradesh Police team brought Ahmad to Naini central jail wherein he has been kept in a high-security barrack located close to the women’s jail. A senior superintendent of the jail said the number of CCTV cameras has also been increased to keep a tight vigil on the don-turned-politician.