The UP (Uttar Pradesh) police shot a shooter from Atiq Ahmed’s gang dead in a fresh encounter in Prayagraj on Sunday (March 5) evening. The accused Vijay alias Usman Choudhary was the first to open fire on Umesh Pal. He was killed in the gunfight that ensued between him and the UP police in Prayagraj’s Kaundhiyara area.
Choudhary reportedly received serious injuries in the encounter and was rushed to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital in Civil Lines. The doctors declared him brought dead and later shifted his body to the mortuary.
The encounter came a day after the UP police had announced a bounty of two and a half lakhs for each of the accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. However, as Usman Choudhary’s name was not there in the FIR, the police announced a bounty of fifty thousand rupees for him. According to the police, the bounty against him was reduced since he wasn’t identified at the start of the probe. In the latest development, the UP police have gone to Kolkata after receiving information that some of the suspects were hiding there.
Vijay Kumar alias Usman Choudhary and others murdered Umesh Pal, who was a witness in the killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005, at his residence more than a week ago. The police said the murder of Umesh Pal was executed with surgical precision and sophisticated weapons, including 9 mm pistols, Springfield rifles and crude bombs.
“All the attackers had planned and practised before executing the final task… First, Usman is spotted opening fire and is also holding a crude bomb. Further, he is being given cover fire, while another suspect identified, as Guddu Muslim, hurls a bomb and the whole act takes place in less than a minute”, Additional Director General (ADG) of Police, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said.
Raju Pal was murdered months after winning the Prayagraj (Allahabad West) assembly seat in his electoral debut by defeating Former MP Atiq Ahmed’s younger brother Khalid Azim. “Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, his brother and ex-MLA Ashraf are prime accused in the Raju Pal murder case. All the accused are presently lodged in jail. CCTV footage shows Umesh Pal and one of his two police bodyguards getting out of the SUV when suddenly a man came from behind and shot him. The shooters that killed Umesh Pal hid in Prayagraj for two hours after the attack before fleeing in two getaway SUVs”, noted India Today.
The Raju Pal case is yet another reminder of judicial failure. The case has been dragging on since 2005. We are well aware that cases in Bharat drag on for years and many times those waiting for justice end up waiting for a lifetime. In addition, there is the added risk of criminals escaping using the many loopholes that plague our laws. There is, therefore, an urgent need for judicial and police reforms.
(Featured Image Source: One India)
