Panic grips Atiq Ahmed’s family as cops search for son Asad & prepare bulldozersFearing apprehensions of being killed in fake encounters
Abhishek Awasthi
Prayagraj: Anxiety has seized the family of imprisoned criminal Atiq Ahmed, with both he and his imprisoned brother Ashraf claiming in court that the Uttar Pradesh police are planning to murder them in a fake encounter. Ahmed’s wife, Shaista Parveen, is also missing, although she claims in court that police abducted her two boys. Asad, Atiq’s third son, has been identified in CCTV footage as the leader of the gunmen who killed Umesh Pal in Prayagraj last week. In the FIR, UP police mentioned Atiq, Ashraf, Shaista, and her son Asad, as well as other members of the Atiq gang.
After Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s declaration in the UP Assembly – “mafia ko mitti mein mila denge,” an accused named Arbaaz was slain in a police encounter two days earlier. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP Lawmaker Raju Pal, was shot dead outside his residence in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj district on February 24. Atiq, who is imprisoned in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail, and Ashraf, who is imprisoned in Bareilly, approached a Prayagraj court on Tuesday, claiming that the UP police want to take their custody from jail in the Umesh Pal murder case and that they fear they will be killed in a fake encounter in the middle of the investigation.
The petitions were dismissed by the court since the UP Police stated that they had no plans to pursue their arrest. Atiq and Ashraf have been appearing in court through video-conference and do not wish to walk out of the jail for their security purpose. Atiq’s wife, BSP politician Shaista Parveen, is also unreachable, despite the fact that she filed a court petition claiming that her two little sons, Ahzam and Abaan, were taken away by police last week and their whereabouts are unknown. On Thursday, the court will hear the case.
Atiq has five sons, two of whom are in prison, while the third, Asad, is suspected of being the mastermind behind the Umesh Pal murder.On CCTV footage, he can be seen arriving from an SUV and firing randomly at Umesh Pal with a revolver. The Uttar Pradesh government is also prepared to bulldoze the properties of accused in the Umesh Pal case, with the Prayagraj administration compiling a list of houses and plotting demolitions. This might be a significant step in combating Atiq Ahmed’s financial empire and his henchmen. The government has confiscated or demolished Atiq Ahmed’s assets worth Rs 1,200 crore in recent years. The government has identified the homes of four gunmen engaged in the Umesh Pal killing: Guddu Muslim, Gulam, Saabir, and Armaan. They’re all on the run.