Umesh Pal murder: Footage shows a bid made on Feb 21

Prayagraj: Even as a detailed probe into the sensational killing of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police gunners has revealed that assailants had made at least three futile attempts to eliminate Pal, a prime witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, before succeeding on February 24, a 4:17 minutes CCTV footage on Wednesday surfaced on social media which purportedly confirms that assailants had made the first attempt on February 21 evening.
Although senior police officials are tight-lipped over the new CCTV footage that went viral on social media on Wednesday, well- placed police sources claimed the CCTV footage will help police officials compile additional evidence and link the series of incidents.
Sources told TOI that the first bid to target Umesh Pal was made on February 21, but could not materialize due to heavy traffic rush and presence of a police vehicle in the vicinity. In fact, it has been established that the assailants had conducted a detailed recee of Pal’s regular route before targeting him. The assailants were well-acquainted with the daily routine of Pal and kept a close watch on his route and his activities since February second week, the sources added.
The February 21 CCTV footage has revealed all the assailants had rushed to the residence of Pal in Sulemsarai locality within a short time once his SUV reached outside his house. However, they could not be successful in their nefarious designs. In this CCTV footage/video, four of the prime assailants could be seen together.
“After investigations and post-incident compilation of CCTV footage, it was also established that the assailants had one and single motive to eliminate Pal. They had formed two teams to assist each other and had executed the murder in a well-planned manner,” the sources told TOI.
Investigations also revealed that cops had managed to compile several video footage of the escape route of the assailants and that had undoubtedly helped cops to track all the five prime assailants — Arman, Asad (son of Atiq Ahmed), Gulam, Guddu Muslim and Sabir.
Asad, Gulam, Vijay Chaudhary aka Usman and Arbaaz have been gunned down by the police and STF. Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Arman, all carrying Rs 5 lakh cash reward on their heads, are still absconding.
Earlier, a video of assailants of Umesh Pal entering Bareilly jail to meet Atiq’s brother Ashraf inside jail premises had gone viral last month. This 2.12-minute video, dated February 11, purportedly showed nine people, including Asad, Ghulam, Guddu Muslim, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, Sadakat Khan and others emerging from Bareilly jail after meeting Ashraf, who also was killed along with Atiq, was lodged. They had reportedly entered the premises on a single ID and stayed inside the prison campus for around three hours. Police claimed the meeting was convened to give the final touches to the criminal conspiracy to murder Pal, a key witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.
The gangster brothers, Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, were shot dead by a group of three attackers inside the campus of Colvin Hospital under the limits of Shahganj police station in the city on April 15. Both were named as prime conspirators in the FIR registered with Dhoomanganj police station in connection with the killing of Pal.