Umesh Pal’s murder: Saddam’s arrest crucial for capture of Atiq’s wife, other accused, says STF

Saddam was wanted in a case registered at Bareilly on March 6 for arranging secret meetings between Ashraf and Umesh’s shooters in the Bareilly jail.

A day after the arrest of slain gangster-politician Khalid Azim’s brother-in-law, the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police was hopeful of tracing the women in the family who had been evading capture for the past seven months.

Capturing Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen has been a big challenge for the police. She is one of the accused in the murder of Umesh Pal. (File)

Khalid Azim alias Ashraf was the brother of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed. Both were shot dead by three men with petty criminal backgrounds on April 15. The incident took place outside a Prayagraj hospital in the presence of several police officials and media persons.

Capturing Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen has been a big challenge for the police. She is one of the accused in the murder of Umesh Pal, who was shot dead along with two police guards outside his residence in Prayagraj on February 24 this year. She carries a reward of ₹50,000 for her arrest.

Also, sister Ayesha Noori and Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima were accused of helping and giving shelter to six assailants who eliminated Umesh Pal. However, no cash reward was declared for their arrests.

A senior STF official said Ashraf’s brother-in-law and Zainab’s brother Abdul Samad alias Saddam, who carried a bounty of ₹1 lakh, was arrested from his hideout in New Delhi on Thursday. He said Saddam was wanted in a case registered at Bareilly on March 6 for arranging secret meetings between Ashraf and Umesh’s shooters in the Bareilly jail.

He said Saddam was a key member of the gangster-brothers’ gang so he might be aware of the wives and sister’s whereabouts. “We will seek his police custody to question him about the whereabouts of Shaista Parveen, Zainab Fatima and Ayesha Noorie,” the STF official added.

He said Saddam, who was in hiding for seven months, relocated seven times within UP and to Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka; used 10 SIM cards to stay in touch with his family and gang members. In Delhi, from where he was arrested around 2 am Thursday, he lived under the name Qasim. Saddam had returned to Delhi from Karnataka to meet his girlfriend, the STF official said.

Also, Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Arman--three of the six men who allegedly shot Umesh Pal dead—are still out of the police net and each carry a reward of ₹5 lakh. Four other accused in the case — Atiq’s son Asad and his aides Ghulam Hasan, Vijay Choudhary (aka Usman) and Arbaaz — were killed in police encounters.