Express News Service
LUCKNOW: The Prayagraj Police on Friday, 26 May, filed the first chargesheet in the murder of Umesh Pal, the main witness to the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal.
Umesh, along with two police security guards was shot dead outside his home on 24 February this year.
In the present chargesheet, filed in the SC-ST court, charges have been filed against only one accused, Sadaqat Khan, leaving out the names of eight other accused. Khan is one of the nine accused named in the case.
As per the senior police official of the district, the 1,857-page (including attachments) charge sheet has been filed under nine sections of the Indian Penal Code against Sadaqat Khan in connection with the case registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 506, 34 and 120B of IPC, Section 3 of Explosive Act, 7 CLA Act and 3 (2) V SC/ST Act, was filed on Friday as the judicial custody period of 90 days of the accused was due to end on May 27.
The police added Section 3 (2)V of the SC/ST Act on May 23, 2023, in the FIR (no. 114/2023) related to the Umesh Pal murder case and investigations were handed over to the additional commissioner of police (ACP) under whom a team of investigators was constituted.
The investigations are underway in connection with the other accused. Sadaqat was arrested by a team of Special Task Force from Gorakhpur on February 27.
Sadaqat used to stay in the hostel of Allahabad University where, as per the police sources, the conspiracy to kill Umesh Pal was given the final touches.
Police sources also claimed that days before the murder on February 24, the accused had visited slain gangster Atiq Ahmed’s brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf in Bareilly jail on February 11.
The nine persons who visited Ashraf included Mohammed Asad (Atiq’s son), Mohammed Ghulam, Guddu Muslim, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, Sadaqat, Sabir, Arman and others.
They had reportedly entered the premises on a single ID and stayed on the prison campus for around three hours.
Umesh Pal was a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case in which Atiq and Ashraf were the main accused. Besides, Sadaqat had also attended online and offline meetings with other conspirators.
While two of the accused — Arbaaz and Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman — were killed in separate police encounters at the February end and March first week, respectively, Atiq’s son Mohd Asad and Ghulam Mohammad — were neutralised by UP STF in Jhansi on April 13.
Gangster brothers Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants while being taken for a medical check-up at Colvin Hospital under police custody on April 15.
However, other accused including Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen, Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima, Atiq’s sister Ayesh Noori, and his main shooter Sabir are at large.
LUCKNOW: The Prayagraj Police on Friday, 26 May, filed the first chargesheet in the murder of Umesh Pal, the main witness to the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal.
Umesh, along with two police security guards was shot dead outside his home on 24 February this year.
In the present chargesheet, filed in the SC-ST court, charges have been filed against only one accused, Sadaqat Khan, leaving out the names of eight other accused. Khan is one of the nine accused named in the case.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
As per the senior police official of the district, the 1,857-page (including attachments) charge sheet has been filed under nine sections of the Indian Penal Code against Sadaqat Khan in connection with the case registered under Sections 147, 148, 149, 302, 307, 506, 34 and 120B of IPC, Section 3 of Explosive Act, 7 CLA Act and 3 (2) V SC/ST Act, was filed on Friday as the judicial custody period of 90 days of the accused was due to end on May 27.
The police added Section 3 (2)V of the SC/ST Act on May 23, 2023, in the FIR (no. 114/2023) related to the Umesh Pal murder case and investigations were handed over to the additional commissioner of police (ACP) under whom a team of investigators was constituted.
The investigations are underway in connection with the other accused. Sadaqat was arrested by a team of Special Task Force from Gorakhpur on February 27.
Sadaqat used to stay in the hostel of Allahabad University where, as per the police sources, the conspiracy to kill Umesh Pal was given the final touches.
Police sources also claimed that days before the murder on February 24, the accused had visited slain gangster Atiq Ahmed’s brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf in Bareilly jail on February 11.
The nine persons who visited Ashraf included Mohammed Asad (Atiq’s son), Mohammed Ghulam, Guddu Muslim, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, Sadaqat, Sabir, Arman and others.
They had reportedly entered the premises on a single ID and stayed on the prison campus for around three hours.
Umesh Pal was a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case in which Atiq and Ashraf were the main accused. Besides, Sadaqat had also attended online and offline meetings with other conspirators.
While two of the accused — Arbaaz and Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman — were killed in separate police encounters at the February end and March first week, respectively, Atiq’s son Mohd Asad and Ghulam Mohammad — were neutralised by UP STF in Jhansi on April 13.
Gangster brothers Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants while being taken for a medical check-up at Colvin Hospital under police custody on April 15.
However, other accused including Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen, Ashraf’s wife Zainab Fatima, Atiq’s sister Ayesh Noori, and his main shooter Sabir are at large.
