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Raju Pal murder: For 19 years, eyewitness couple defiantly withstood intimidation tactics
Married couple Ruksana and Sadiq bravely testified as eyewitnesses in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, resulting in convictions despite threats and harassment.
Undeterred by threats and even police cases against them, married couple Ruksana and Sadiq continued to make court appearances as eyewitnesses in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.
The incident that took place over 19 years ago in January of 2005 has turned their lives upside down. Despite being threatened, harassed and even allegedly framed in false cases, their determination to fight for the family of Raju Pal, who was their family friend, resulted in the conviction of seven accused. Four of them, including former MP Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, were gunned down in April last year.
Ruksana was in the car with Pal when several gunmen started indiscriminately firing on them.
Recalling the day of the incident, she said: “We were going to visit my sister when our scooter ran out of fuel near Chaufatka Crossing. Meanwhile, Raju Bhaiyya came to us in his SUV and offered us a lift. I boarded the SUV while my husband proceeded towards a petrol pump. Raju Pal was driving the SUV when he was sprayed with bullets. I received two bullet wounds and fell unconscious. I found myself at a hospital when I opened my eyes. I still shiver remembering the day when I witnessed Raju Bhaiyya dying before my eyes. We are grateful to God that we are still safe.”
Ruksana had to stay hospitalised for two months. “The incident changed our lives forever as Atiq and his gang came after us following the murder. Raju Pal was our family friend and we supported him when he contested elections. So we decided to become witnesses in his murder case as well,” she said.
The couple is now in their 50s. Her husband Sadiq said, “Atiq and his gang started issuing threats to us as Ruksana was a key eyewitness to the murder. We were harassed in many ways and forced to change homes twice over the last 19 years. Atiq got me and my family implicated in false cases but we never changed our stance. Once we were at our home when Atiq’s henchmen came and started threatening us. They fled when we fired at them with our licensed firearms. We gave the same statement to the police and CBI.”
Another witness in the case, Om Prakash was also reportedly assaulted by Atiq and forced to change his statement. However, he later corrected his statement again before the CBI. In 2019, Abdul Kavi, an accused in the Raju Pal murder case, fired shots at Om Prakash in his native village, but the latter managed to escape.
Umesh Pal, a lawyer, was also named as a witness in the Raju Pal murder case, but he, later, turned hostile in court after he was abducted and threatened by Atiq. The CBI also dropped Umesh’s name from the list of witnesses. Umesh Pal later lodged an FIR against Atiq, Khan Saulat and others in connection with his abduction and assault after the regime in the state changed in 2007. Atiq, Khan Saulat and another person were convicted in the case and sentenced by an MP MLA court after Umesh Pal’s murder in February 2023.
Pic: Married couple Ruksana and Sadiq.
