Umesh Pal murder: UP cops bringing Atiq to Prayagraj for interrogation; prison van to reach Sangam city on Wednesday afternoon

PRAYAGRAJ: A 37-member team of Prayagraj Police on Tuesday left for Sangam city after taking the custody of Atiq Ahmed from Sabarmati Jail to interrogate him in connection with the murder of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police gunners.
The four-vehicle cavalcade carrying the jailed gangster-turned-politician in a prison van left Sabarmati on Tuesday and is likely to reach Prayagraj on Wednesday afternoon.
After the police bring Atiq under relevant warrant to Prayagraj and lodge at Naini central jail, they are likely to apply for his custody remand from a local court.
This is the second time Atiq is being brought to Prayagraj from Sabarmati within a fortnight.
Police sources said that while leaving for Prayagraj from Sabarmati jail, Atiq Ahmad expressed threat to his life and claimed he should be interrogated via video conferencing.
The team of Prayagraj Police comprising 37 members is being led by an inspector-rank official.
Earlier, a 22-members team of Prayagraj Police had brought him to Prayagraj on March 27 to produce him before the MP/MLA court.
On March 28, the court had sentenced Atiq Ahmad to life imprisonment in connection with the Umesh Pal kidnapping case in 2006.
The Supreme Court had in April 2019 directed that Atiq Ahmed should be shifted to the high-security Sabarmati jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating from jail the kidnap and attack on a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal.
He has been lodged at the Sabarmati jail since June 2019. Ahmed is facing 103 criminal cases, including Umesh Pal murder.
Atiq Ahmed, his son Ali Ahmed and Atiq’s cousin Aslam Mantri along with 10 others have been booked for demanding Rs 1-crore extortion, assaulting and threatening a man, police said.
This is the 103rd criminal case lodged against the gangster-turned-politician.
In the latest case, complainant Sabir Hussain claimed that though the incident took place on April 14, 2019, he lodged a case with Dhoomanganj police on Monday. Hussain said he could muster courage to file the complaint following the recent crackdown against the gangster and his gang.
“The incident occurred when I was at my mother’s house at Chakia, Kasari–Masarai locality where Ali Ahmad (son of Atiq) along with other armed men arrived and called me. When I came out of the house, Aslam Mantri called up Atiq on the phone and asked me to talk to him. When I refused, Ali and one Asad pointed a pistol at my head and asked me to arrange Rs 1-crore extortion,” Hussain said in his complaint.
Hussain further said: “When I refused to pay the amount, they opened fire on me, but I narrowly escaped.”
He also claimed to have obtained CCTV footage of the incident. Hussain told police that these men used to threaten him frequently.