E-Paper
Despite abduction, a fake case & threats, Umesh kept fighting for justice
he accused booked in this 2005 murder case were -- the then Pulpur MP Atiq Ahmad, his younger brother Khalid Azeem (aka Ashraf), and their aides Farhan, Abid, and Ranjit Pal, Gufran, among others.
PRAYAGRAJ Assassinated in a sensational broad daylight shootout in Prayagraj on Friday evening, lawyer Umesh Pal never gave in to threats in his fight against mafioso-turned-politician and former MP Atiq Ahmad. For nearly two decades, he kept fighting to ensure justice for his friend and BSP MLA Raju Pal, who was killed in January 2005.
After murder of the BSP MLA, Umesh came forward as the prime witness in the case. The accused booked in this 2005 murder case were -- the then Pulpur MP Atiq Ahmad, his younger brother Khalid Azeem (aka Ashraf), and their aides Farhan, Abid, and Ranjit Pal, Gufran, among others.
Along with Umesh, the murder case also had other witnesses -- including Saifullah, Ruksana, Mahendra Patel and Omprakash. Among them, Ruksana, Mahendra and Omprakash had even received bullet injuries when assailants had attacked the BSP MLA.
Later on, Umesh and three other witnesses were even abducted and allegedly threatened by Atiq to step back from participating in the case. While they registered a case of abduction against Atiq initially, all other witnesses, except for Umesh, backed out gradually. Even Raju Pal’s wife left the BSP and joined the Samajwadi Party.
However, Umesh Pal continued pursuing the case and remained firm on his statement. He solely kept challenging former MP Atiq Ahmad and his gang members in a bid to send them behind the bars for killing his childhood friend Raju Pal.
On Friday, Umesh was killed 18 years after his friend Raju Pal’s murder in the same manner. Umesh was killed at a time when hearing in his abduction case was in the final stage and the verdict was to be pronounced in six weeks’ time. During the course of the case, Umesh gave statement against Atiq and others in several courts, including the Supreme Court. He was the prime witness even when the Raju Pal murder case was handed over to the CBI.
Meanwhile, Umesh Pal and his brother, allegedly at the behest of Atiq, were named in murder of one Jitendra Patel in July 2016. Atiq made efforts to get Umesh Pal arrested. However, after the regime change in 2017, Dhumanganj police gave a clean chit to Umesh and his brother. In a complete twist, the police named Atiq Ahmad, Ashraf, Zulfikar (aka Tota), Akram, and Asif (aka Durrani) in Patel’s murder case and submitted a chargesheet against them.
Based on Umesh’s complaint, police even charged Jitendra Patel’s mother Surajkali for lodging a fake FIR in the case. Umesh lodged another case against Atiq’s henchmen for issuing threats and demanding extortion. In view of the threat, Umesh was provided security by administration after he wrote letters to officials raising fears of being attacked by Atiq’s henchmen.
Primary investigation into Umesh Pal’s murder has revealed that the assailants came with full preparedness and even used crude bombs. Two of his gunners also sustained bullet injuries in the attack. While one of them succumbed to his injuries the same day, the other security personnel is undergoing treatment.
