E-Paper
Seeking chance to be heard before remand: CJM rejects pleas of Atiq Ahmad, his brother Ashraf
Krishna Kumar Pal aka Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, was killed along with his security guard on February 24.
The chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Prayagraj, on Tuesday rejected the applications moved by two Mafiosi-turned- politicians Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in which they urged the court to not send them to either judicial or police custody in any case before they are given an opportunity of hearing.
Instead, their presence for the hearing be arranged through videoconferencing, they requested in the applications. Atiq Ahmad, a former MP, and his brother Ashraf, a former MLA, have been named accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.
Krishna Kumar Pal aka Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, was killed along with his security guard on February 24. Both Atiq and Ashraf are accused in the Raju Pal murder case, the trial of which is going on in CBI court in Lucknow. Charges were recently framed against them by the court in their presence. Now in the next move, it was the turn of Umesh Pal to depose his testimony as witness but before he could do so, he was shot dead.
According to district government counsel (criminal), Gulab Chandra Agrahari, two applications were moved by Atiq and Ashraf before the CJM on Monday. In Atiq’s application, it was stated that he was at present lodged in Sabarmati jail of Ahmedabad while Ashraf in his application said he was lodged in Deoria jail of Uttar Pradesh.
Both made a request in their applications that they be heard if any remand (order for taking into custody i.e. judicial custody or police custody) is made against them in any of the cases. Besides, they had also urged that their presence for the hearings of the cases lodged against them be arranged through videoconferencing.
