Uttar Pradesh: Umesh Pal Murder Accused Usman Killed In Encounter In Prayagraj, Says UP Police

Officials said Vijay alias Usman, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was shot dead by a Prayagraj police team in the early hours of Monday.

Prayagraj's Dhumanganj Station House Officer (SHO) Rajesh Kumar Maurya said the encounter took place in Kaundhiyara police station area around 5.30 am. He said Usman was involved in the shooting of Umesh Pal and two police personnel on February 24.

Earlier, another accused Arbaz was similarly killed in a UP Police encounter in Prayagraj.

What's Umesh Pal murder case?

On February 24, Umesh Pal and two of his designated police security personnel were attacked outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj area.

While Umesh Pal died on the same day, the two policemen identified as Sandeep Nishad and Raghvendra Singh died later during treatment.?

Umesh Pal was a key witness in the prime witness in the 2005 Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal murder case. Atiq Ahmed is the main accused in the case. He is currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat.?

What's Raju Pal murder case?

BSP MLA Raju Pal was murdered in 2005. The murder case had political dimensions with the involvement of MP Atiq Ahmed.?

The Indian Express noted that Raju was returning home from a hospital along with his associates Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal when assailants overtook their vehicle and shot him dead.

Atiq and accused Ashraf were chargesheeted in 2009 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), noted the Express.

The Express noted, "In August 2019, by when the BJP had come to power in UP, the CBI filed a chargesheet against 10 persons, including Atiq Ahmed and Ahsraf, and claimed that there was oral and documentary evidence against them such as Ashraf’s call records showing he was present at the crime scene. The agency gave a clean chit to seven accused named by both the local police and later the state CB-CID. The agency said it did not find any evidence against them."

(With PTI inputs)