Umesh Pal Case: Why Jailed Politician Atiq Ahmad's Encounter is Highly Unlikely

For the first time in 40 years of his criminal past, mafia-turned-jailed politician Atiq Ahmad could face life imprisonment for kidnapping Umesh Pal, a lawyer, who was a key witness to a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA’s murder in 2005. Follow Live Updates Here

A sessions court in Prayagraj will pronounce the judgment on March 28 in the kidnapping case of Umesh Pal who was killed last month allegedly by some gunmen including Atiq’s son Asad.

Atiq had said on March 26 he feared he will be killed in an encounter like Vikas Dubey as he was being shifted to Prayagraj from Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail where he had been lodged since 2019.

Dubey was killed in an encounter on July 10, 2020, when a police vehicle carrying him from Ujjain to Kanpur met with an accident and he tried to escape from the spot in Bhauti area, the police had said. He was booked after eight policemen were killed following an ambush in Bikru village in Kanpur when they were going to arrest Dubey on July 3, 2020.

It is quite unlikely that Atiq will be killed in an encounter like Vikas Dubey’s as the Yogi Adityanath government, under pressure, could say in a state ruled by law, conviction of a hardened mafia can be a reality.

If Atiq gets life imprisonment, he would be permanent behind the bars. Unlike in the Vikas Dubey case, the Uttar Pradesh Police, this time, is not bringing any surrendered criminal, but a man who had been in the judicial custody.

Unlike Dubey, Atiq is being brought on the order from the court, which demands his safe arrival to Prayagraj, and contempt of court would be the last thing the police want.

Umesh Pal’s Kidnapping Case

BSP MLA Raju Pal was gunned down by Atiq Ahmad’s gang in Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj in 2005, which was witnessed by Umesh Pal along with five others who became witnesses in the case.

As Umesh Pal was set to depose against Atiq during the trial, he was kidnapped in 2006. Pal was then allegedly held up at Atiq’s office in Karbala in Prayagraj and tortured so that he doesn’t testify against Atiq and his brother Ashraf, who is currently lodged in Bareilly jail.

Following the intimidation, Umesh Pal turned hostile in the case. However, in 2007, when Mayawati became the chief minister, Umesh Pal filed an FIR for his kidnapping against Atiq, Ashraf and Atiq’s nine other associates.

Umesh Pal had deposed against Atiq and others a few months ago in the same case. While he returning from the court hearing in the case on February 24, he was gunned down.

Meanwhile, 24-year-old man Arbaaz, wanted in the killing of Umesh Pal, was gunned down by the UP Police on February 28.

Read all the Latest India News here