Shillong, March 28: Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-turned-politician, his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, and others have been found guilty in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, of kidnapping Umesh Pal, the key witness in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, in 2006.
Later in the day, according to sources, the MP-MLA court is likely to decide on the quantum of the punishment. The imprisoned don has received his first conviction.
Umesh Pal, a member of the Zila Panchayat at the time Raju Pal was killed on January 25, 2005, had admitted to police that he witnessed the murder take place.
Umesh Pal claimed that on February 28, 2006, he was kidnapped under threat of force because he wouldn’t backtrack and give in to Ahmed’s pressure. On July 5, 2007, a FIR was filed against Ahmed, his brother, and four unnamed individuals.
On February 24 this year, Umesh Pal was shot and killed in front of his house in Prayagraj. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf are accused in a plot to assassinate Umesh Pal.
