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Arman’s jail transfer prompts broader hunt for Guddu Muslim, Sabir
Ten people were named in the FIR lodged at Dhoomanganj police station the following day of Umesh Pal’s murder. Of the 10, six including Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed in various encounters.
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The Uttar Pradesh Police are intensifying their search for three absconding accused in the Umesh Pal murder case—shooters Guddu Muslim and Sabir, who each carry a reward of ₹5 lakh, and Atiq Ahmed’s wife Shaista Parveen, who carries a reward of ₹50,000. All three were named in the FIR and have remained at large for more than three years.
Ten people were named in the FIR lodged at Dhoomanganj police station the following day of Umesh Pal’s murder. Of the 10, six including Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed in various encounters.
The renewed search follows the arrest of another accused, Mohd Arman, who was found to have been lodged in Gaya Central Jail since February 27, 2023. Arman, who also carried a reward of ₹5 lakh, was recently brought to Prayagraj from Gaya and produced before a local court amid tight security.
Police are now planning to send details of the three absconding accused to prisons in around nine states to check whether any of them could be in custody under circumstances similar to Arman’s. Teams will visit jails and physically verify inmates wherever there is reason to suspect that a wanted accused may be lodged there.
DCP (City) Sagar Jain said teams had also been formed to search for Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Shaista Parveen. Police are checking records of visitors who met Umar and Ali in Uttar Pradesh jails over the past three years and are examining hospitals, de-addiction centres and other locations that may have been overlooked in earlier searches.
The police will seek Arman’s custody remand and question him about his alleged role in the February 24, 2023, killing of Umesh Pal and two police personnel in Prayagraj. Investigators will also question him about his movements and contacts before and after the attack and people who may have helped him after he fled the city.
Police said CCTV footage showed Arman riding a motorcycle with Guddu Muslim on the pillion. Investigators allege that Arman opened fire during the attack while Guddu Muslim hurled bombs.
According to investigators, Arman fled to Bihar after the murder and remained on the move for two days before surrendering before a court in Gaya on February 27, 2023, in connection with a separate firing case. He was subsequently sent to Gaya Central Jail.
A Dhoomanganj police team reached Gaya Central Jail on September 30 and identified Arman. Police approached a Gaya court on October 1 to complete the legal formalities required to bring him to Prayagraj.
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Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder of former MLA Raju Pal, was killed along with two policemen in Sulem Sarai, Prayagraj, on February 24, 2023.
Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, both named in the FIR, were subsequently killed. Atiq’s son Asad and shooters Arbaaz, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman and Ghulam were also killed in separate encounters.
Of the seven people seen in CCTV footage of the attack, Arbaaz, who allegedly drove the SUV carrying the attackers, was killed in an encounter on February 27, 2023. Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman was killed in a police encounter in Prayagraj on March 6, while Asad Ahmed and Ghulam were killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh STF in Jhansi on April 13, 2023.
