Prayagraj: Umesh Pal. file photo
– Photo: Amar Ujala
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The planning of the Umesh Pal bloody murder case, which took place a few days back in Prayagraj, was made in the room of a young lawyer of the Allahabad High Court. This lawyer has been arrested by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh Police.
The arrested lawyer is also one of the 12 people named by the UP STF in its top-10 list in this double murder case that created furore in the state government. Of the remaining 11 most wanted, two brothers are lodged in jail. One of them is UP’s mafia Atiq Ahmed and the other is his brother Ashraf. Atiq Ahmed is currently imprisoned in Ahmedabad jail. While his brother and most wanted Ashraf of Umesh Pal murder case is imprisoned in Bareilly Central Jail of UP.
All these facts were confirmed by UP Police STF Chief and Additional Director General of Police, IPS Amitabh Yash in a special conversation on Monday afternoon. According to Amitabh Yash, “One of the main accused in the Umesh Pal double murder case in Prayagraj has been arrested. It has been caught from Gorakhpur.
The name of the arrested conspirator is Sadaqat (25). Sadaqat is a lawyer of Allahabad High Court by profession. In his interrogation, it has come to know that more than practicing law in the High Court, he had more to do with criminals. All the important meetings of the second round to finalize the plan for the Umesh Pal murder case were held in this Sadaqat room. Sadaqat had taken this room in the Muslim hostel located in Prayagraj.
In response to a question, the UP Police STF Chief further said, “Actually, no role of Mafia Mukhtar Ansari has been found in this case so far. If he comes anywhere in the further investigation, then it is difficult to say anything on this at the moment. Mainly till now only the hand of mafia Atiq Ahmed, lodged in Ahmedabad Jail and his brother Ashraf, lodged in Bareilly Central Jail, is coming to the fore in Prayagraj’s double murder (Umesh Pal murder case).
In this case, if we talk about the main arrest, then Sadaqat is the first accused to advocate in the High Court. Even if the planning of this double murder was done in jail. But after that, most of the meetings to finalize the murder of Umesh Pal took place in the Muslim hostel room of this Sadaqat in Prayagraj. Sadaqat himself has accepted this fact after his arrest.
How Sadaqat came in contact with criminals
After being a lawyer of the Allahabad High Court, why and how did Sadaqat come in contact with criminals from Atiq Ahmed? When asked, Amitabh Yash said, “Actually according to what Sadaqat has told, this gang had lured Sadaqat that the disputed land deals in the area and all the legal matters related to them would be handed over to Sadaqat. So he started holding meetings of those shooters of Atiq gang at his hostel room. Right now more interrogation is going on with Sadaqat.
How can this arrested lawyer of Allahabad High Court Sadaqat be linked to Umesh Pal double murder? When asked, the UP STF chief said, “In the video CCTV footage at the scene, a shooter is seen firing from inside the shop. His name is Ghulam. Many meetings of that slave and this arrested lawyer Sadaqat took place in the same room in the Muslim hostel in Prayagraj where Sadaqat lived. Sadaqat himself has accepted this thing. He has told that not only the shooter Ghulam but also many other criminals involved in this double murder and still wanted (absconding) used to gather in this room to weave a conspiracy.
According to UP STF, this is the first arrest of this Allahabad High Court lawyer in this case. Apart from this, 11 other miscreants have also been caught. Out of these 11, at present two brothers and the main conspirators of this double murder, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf are lodged in two different jails. Teams of Prayagraj district police are engaged in efforts to interrogate him.