- By Nikhil Singh
- Wed, 29 Mar 2023 08:03 AM (IST)
- Source:JND
AFTER being acquitted in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case on Tuesday, Atiq Ahmed’s brother Khalid Azim aka Ashraf has claimed that he has been threatened by a police officer that he will be killed within two weeks.
"I have been threatened by an officer that I'll be taken out of jail in 2 weeks and will be killed," Ashraf said, according to ANI, after he was brought to Bareilly jail on Tuesday. He further claimed that Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath “understands his pain” because fake cases are also filed against him.
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"This threat was given by a senior officer. I cannot tell his name, but if I am killed, then the closed envelope will reach the Chief Minister and Supreme Court Chief Justice and Allahabad Chief Justice, it will contain his name," Ashraf alleged.
Ashraf was acquitted by the Prayagraj MP-MLA Court in the Umesh Pal kindapping case even as his brother and gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. Ashraf was shifted to the Bareilly jail immediately after being acquitted while his brother Atiq is being taken back to Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
Atiq Ahmed, who has over 100 cases registered against him, has been convicted in any case for the first time. Along with the former Samajwadi Party MP Dinesh Pasi and Khan Saulat Hanif were also held guilty in the crime and given life imprisonment sentence. All three were also fined Rs 5,000 by the court, which acquitted seven others including Ashraf.
Umesh Pal, who was a main witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal, was shot dead in broad daylight on a busy road in Prayagraj on February 24. In 2005, when Atiq Ahmed won the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency, Khalid Azim contested from the Allahabad West Legislative Assembly seat - vacated by his brother - and lost to Raju Pal. Raju Pal was then gunned down on January 25, 2005, a day before Republic Day celebrations.
"He (Atiq Ahmed) was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping my son but he should be given a death sentence for killing my son. I have faith in UP CM Yogi Adityanath and the judicial system," Shanti Devi, Umesh Pal’s Mother, said yesterday.
(With agency inputs)