PRAYAGRAJ: In a major breakthrough, police teams probing the sensational February 24 Umesh Pal shootout case on Tuesday claimed to have arrested five persons for conspiracy and performing recee of Pal and seized Rs 74.62 lakh, 10 firearms including five pistols of 0.32 bore along 112 live cartridges of different bores, one magazine and six mobiles from their possession.
The recovery was made from inside a partially-demolished structure and old office of jailed mafia don Atiq Ahmad at Chakia locality. Atiq is the prime accused in the shootout in which lawyer Umesh Pal, the main witness in MLA Raju Pal murder case of 2005, and his two police gunners were shot in Dhoomanganj.
The police identified the arrested persons as Niyaz Ahmad of Dhoomanganj, Mohd Sajar of Dhoomanganj, Arshad Katra of Colonelganj, Qaish Ahmad of Dhoomanganj and Rakesh Kumar alias Nakesh Kumar alias Lala of Kaushambi.
Commissioner of police (Prayagraj) Ramit Sharma told TOI, "Police teams probing the killing of Umesh Pal and two of his police gunners have arrested five key persons involved in the conspiracy and performing recee of Pal's house and his route from the court to house and back."
Niyaz Ahmad had received a mobile phone with internet facility from Mohd Asad, son of jailed mafia don Atiq Ahmad and other family members. Niyaz was assigned the task for conducting the recee of Umesh Pal from Kutchery to his residence in Sulemsarai area.
Niyaz had also attended all conspiracy meetings held by Atiq, his wife Shaista, brother Asharf and others through online mode. Niyaz had also attended meetings held at the house of Atiq.
We have been probing several call details,” added Sharma. “Mohd Sajar is a resident of Jayantipur (Dhoomanganj) and was a neighbour of Umesh Pal. He was assigned to perform the recee of the slain lawyer. Atiq’s son Mohd Asad had called Sajar and handed him over one iPhone with the instructions that he would be sharing details of Umesh Pal and his live location to Atiq, Ashraf and others.
Sajar was the same person who had informed the assailants about the arrival of the slain lawyer at his house on the fateful day. Colonelganj resident Arshad Katra had also attended all the conspiracy meetings,” the CP said.
“Both Quaish Ahmad and Rakesh Pal, who have been working as driver and accountant, respectively, at Atiq’s house for more than 16 years, were assigned to hide cash and weapons inside the partiallydemolished structure and old office of Atiq at Chakia after the shootout incident. Their arrest was made near Jayrampur road.”
The said structure was razed some 15-16 years ago. “We have recovered Rs 72.37 lakh and all the weapons from the old office building of Atiq while Rs 2.25 lakh was seized from the possession of the arrested criminals,” the CP added.
Following the killing of Umesh Pal and his two gunners on February 24, the UP police have announced Rs 5 lakh cash rewards on five key assailants, including Mohd Asad (son of Atiq Ahmad), Gulam Mohammad, Guddu Muslim, Arman and Sabir.
All are absconding. Police have already gunned down Arbaaz and Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman in separate encounters. They were allegedly involved in the killings. Besides, STF ha salso arrested one Sadakat Khan, a resident of Ghazipur who was allegedly involved in hatching conspiracy. Police have made Atiq, his wife Shaista Parveen, brother Ashraf and son Mohd Asad accused in the shootout.
Kapil Dixit is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Mass Communi...
Read MoreKapil Dixit is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Mass Communications. He has covered crime at regional as well as state level. His hobbies include reading, writing and meeting people with diverse interests.
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