Man who shot witness in BSP MLA murder case referred to Lucknow hospital for treatment

Prayagraj: Raghvendra Singh, one of the gunners of Umesh Pal – the prime witness in the 2005 BSP MLA murder case – was referred to Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences for better treatment on Sunday, police said.

According to the Prayagraj Police, Raghvendra Singh was undergoing treatment at the SRN Medical College and on the desire of his family members, and on the suggestion of the doctors, he was referred to SGPGI Lucknow.

Police said Singh was sent to Lucknow in an ambulance with an advanced life support system. The ambulance was sent in a fleet of five vehicles along with a team of four doctors.

A green corridor was made available to the convoy from SRN Medical College, Prayagraj to SGPGI, Lucknow, police said and added that Raghvendra Singh has been admitted to SGPGI for treatment.

Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, was shot dead outside his residence here on Friday, the police said.

was cremated at the Dataganj ghat on Saturday after a postmortem examination.

One of his gunners also died after being hit in the firing.

The main accused in the Raju Pal murder case is mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, currently lodged in a Gujarat jail.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma on Friday told reporters that Umesh was attacked with crude bombs and shot outside his house. Two of his gunners (Sandeep Nishad and Raghvendra Singh), deployed in Pal's security by the government, were also injured in the attack.

A severely injured Umesh was rushed to Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital where he succumbed during treatment, the police said.

Gunner Sandeep Nishad was put on a ventilator and died later, police said.

Sharma had also said efforts were being made to identify the attackers on the basis of CCTV footage.

Eight teams have been formed to investigate all the aspects of the case and arrest those responsible for the attack, he had said then.