The Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested Vijay Mishra, the lawyer of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case, reported the Hindustan Times.
Ahmed, his wife Sahista Parveen, his two sons, his brother Ashraf and others have been booked by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the murder of Pal, who was a witness in the killing of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal in 2005. Umesh Pal, who was also a lawyer, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24.
Mishra is accused of sharing Umesh Pal’s location from Prayagraj court before the latter, along with two police officials, was shot dead.
Mishra has been arrested under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Explosives Act, Criminal Law Amendment Act, and the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, reported the newspaper.
Mishra was also booked for extortion on May 21 for allegedly demanding Rs 3 crore from a plywood trader in Prayagraj, the Hindustan Times reported.
On April 15, Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in presence of police officials while they were being taken for a medical check up to a hospital in Prayagraj. They were shot as they were speaking to reporters on live television and were surrounded by policemen and journalists. The police had said that the shooters were disguised as reporters.
Days before, Atiq Ahmed’s son, 19-year-old Asad Ahmed, was killed during a “gunfight” with the police in Jhansi. In July, the Uttar Pradesh government had told the Supreme Court that it is investigating security lapses that led to the killing of the Ahmed brothers while in custody.
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