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Umesh Pal murder: Ashraf’s wife came to HC to file bail plea, left; police failed to notice
Accused in Umesh Pal murder case, wife of Khalid Azeem (Ashraf) managed to avoid police as she filed an anticipatory bail application in Allahabad High Court. CCTV footage allegedly captured her presence. Police yet to confirm. Another case for contempt of court registered against her.
An accused in the Umesh Pal murder case and on the run, the wife of slain gangster-politician Khalid Azeem (Ashraf) allegedly managed to avoid police attention when she came to the Allahabad high court to file an anticipatory bail application in connection with the case, on August 16.
Even as police had been searching for Zainab (Ashraf’s wife) for months, she was allegedly captured by the cameras installed on the court premises. A CCTV grab purportedly showing Zainab on the court premises was doing the rounds on social media.
An applicant’s physical presence in court is mandatory to file anticipatory bail plea.
The claim, however, is yet to be verified by police. A senior police official in Prayagraj said teams constituted for the arrest of Shaista Parveen (Atiq Ahmed’s wife), Zainab and other absconding accused had been asked to conduct raids and keep an eye on people who might help the accused.
However, the official said the presence of Zainab at the High Court was yet to be confirmed.
Zainab’s signature and photographs indicate that she arrived at the court for submission of the anticipatory bail plea through her lawyer.
It is worth mentioning that another case for contempt of court was registered against Shaista, Zainab, Sabir, Armaan and Guddu Muslim a day ago at Dhumanganj police station in Prayagraj.
Zainab is an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case and she also allegedly provided shelter to the assailants. An arrest warrant was issued against Zainab and, besides the Prayagraj police, STF teams were also carrying out raids in multiple states to arrest her.
Earlier, police suspected Zainab to be in Delhi. Later, it was also suspected that she was present at a hotel in Lucknow from where Atiq’s lawyer Vijay Mishra was arrested in the beginning of August.
