Mafia-Turned-Politician Atiq Ahmed’s Son Asad, Assistant Killed by UP Police in Jhansi Encounter

GG News Bureau

New Delhi, 13th April. Uttar Pradesh’s mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad and his associate Ghulam were killed in an encounter in Jhansi on Thursday, according to state police.

Asad and Ghulam were both wanted for the murder of Umesh Pal in Prayagraj, with a reward of Rs 5 lakh each.

The encounter was carried out by a team led by deputy superintendents Navendu and Vimal from the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force. The police also recovered sophisticated foreign weapons from the site.

On March 28, Atiq Ahmed was convicted and sentenced to prison for the kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal.

Raju Pal was murdered months after defeating Atiq Ahmed’s younger brother Khalid Azim for the Allahabad (West) Assembly seat. Atiq Ahmed was then charged with murdering the politician.

Soon after, Umesh Pal filed a police report alleging that Ahmed kidnapped him in 2006 to force him to testify in his favour.

The witness was assassinated on February 24, this year, in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj, in a brazen daylight attack that targeted him and his security cover with bombs and bullets.

Ahmed, a five-time MLA and former MP, was convicted of kidnapping Pal and is now on trial for his murder alongside his brother and ex-MLA Ashraf.

There have been 130 cases filed against Atiq Ahmed since 1979, when he was seven years old. Umesh Pal’s kidnapping conviction was the first in 44 years.