The police van, carrying mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, arrived at Prayagraj MP-MLA Court in Uttar Pradesh for a hearing in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case on Tuesday.
CCTV cameras and security equipment have been installed in the police van that has been used to present Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf in the MP-MLA court of Prayagraj.
Security has been heightened at Prayagraj MP-MLA Court.
Earlier today, Daya Shankar Mishra, lawyer of Atiq Ahmed at MP-MLA Court in Prayagraj said, “The strategy would be decided only after the verdict. We have the right to appeal (in a higher court).”
Public prosecutor Gulab Chandra Agrahari, in Prayagraj, said, “Prosecution presented eight witnesses before the Court. Every person is equal in the eyes of law. Law is supreme. The sentence would depend on the Court. Hearing for 10 accused ongoing at the Court, one accused died.”
Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-turned-politician and an accused in the case, was brought from Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail to Prayagraj’s Naini jail on Monday after an over 24-hour long drive from Gujarat.
Family of Umesh Pal, the lawyer who was abducted and killed, on Tuesday said that they want the mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, a prime accused in the case to be given the death sentence stating that they want his “empire of terror to end”.
“…We don’t have the strength to fight a case in the time to come. He (Atiq Ahmed) should be sentenced to death by hanging. If he is sentenced to life imprisonment, he can do anything from jail. He got my son killed from jail. He won’t let us live if he remains there…” Umesh Pal’s mother Shanti Devi told ANI ahead of a hearing of the case in Prayagraj court.
Umesh Pal’s widow Jaya Pal said, “I hope court sentences him to death by hanging. If he lives, perhaps we won’t be able be alive. Maybe it would be us next. If he is gone only then will terror be gone…”
“I want Atiq Ahmed’s empire to end, I don’t want him to be alive. I urge the court to give him a death sentence,” she said.
Ahmed is also an accused in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal. Umesh Pal, who was a prime witness in the Raju Pal murder case, was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year.
Ahmed is the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security personnel were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year. (ANI)