Gangster’s son killed in encounter in UP on day father is brought to court

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, April 13, 2023: Dreaded gangster Atiq Ahmed’s son was among two people gunned down by Uttar Pradesh police today in an encounter at Jhansi.

Asad Ahmed and Ghulam were wanted in the murder of Umesh Pal, who was shot dead outside his Prayagraj home on February 24. Both had a reward of ₹ 5 lakh on their heads.

 

According to police, they opened fire at a team of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force and were killed in retaliatory action. Sophisticated weapons, new cellphones and SIM cards have been recovered from them, police said.

Umesh Pal, a lawyer, was a witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal. On February 24, he was shot dead in a daylight attack outside his home in Prayagraj. The security personnel guarding him were also killed. Shocking visuals of the attack had raised big questions on Uttar Pradesh’s law and order situation.

Umesh Pal’s murder also put the spotlight back on Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-turned-politician with over 100 cases against him. A former Samajwadi Party MP, he was convicted last month in a kidnapping case. This case related to the kidnapping of Umesh Pal back in 2006 -- 17 years before he was eventually murdered.

The encounter killings of Atiq Ahmed’s son and his associate come against the backdrop of the gangster’s repeated allegations that the Uttar Pradesh police plans to gun him down in a staged encounter.

In fact, the gangster told reporters yesterday that he was safe because of the media. "It’s because of you (media) that I am safe," he told the press while being brought to Prayagraj for a court date.

The gangster was moved to a prison in Gujarat on the directions of the Supreme Court after he was accused of engineering the kidnapping of a real estate businessman while in jail. He has been in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019.

Over the past couple of months, Atiq Ahmed has been repeatedly brought to Uttar Pradesh for court hearings. The high-profile nature of the case and the gangster’s apprehensions of a staged encounter has ensured extensive media coverage of the movements.