On Friday, March 29, the CBI Special Court in Lucknow brought an end to a case that has been lingering for more than 2 decades by holding all seven accused guilty in the murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal.
The court has awarded life imprisonment to 6 accused. The 7th accused- Farhan has been awarded 4 years of rigorous imprisonment and a Rs 20,000 fine for the possession of weapons.
Slain criminal-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were also accused in the case. The remaining accused, now convicted, include Abid, Farhan, Javed, Abdul Kavee, Gul Hasan, Israr, and Ranjit Pal.
Raju Pal murder case
After slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was elected as a member of Parliament from Phulpur on Samajwadi Party ticket in 2004, Raju Pal of the BSP defeated Atiq Ahmed’s brother Ashraf Ahmed alias Khalid Azim in the Allahabad West by-election. On January 25, 2005, Raju Pal and his companions were attacked by armed assailants in the vicinity of the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj.
In addition to Ruksana, Saif alias Saifulla, and Om Prakash Pal suffering injuries, the tragedy claimed the lives of Raju Pal and his two associates Devilal Pal and Sandeep Yadav. An FIR was filed at the Dhoomanganj police station regarding the murder and other charges against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, and seven unnamed people based on the complaint submitted by Raju Pal’s wife Pooja.
Later, when Atiq Ahmed was ousted from the SP, the BSP refused to offer him a ticket because of his involvement in the murder of the party’s MLA. Ashraf Ahmed contested again in the by-election that was held as a result of the murder of Raju Pal.
On February 24, 2023, the primary witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, Umesh Pal, was fatally shot in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, close to his home. The attack took the lives of two policemen assigned to guard the lawyer. The entire incident was recorded on a CCTV camera. Umesh Pal had also disclosed that he had been kidnapped on February 28, 2006, under fear of force, since he refused to back down and submit to Atiq Ahmed’s pressure.