State govt has taken serious note of killing of prime witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder: UP minister

Lucknow, Feb 27 (PTI) Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna Monday told the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly that the state government has taken serious note of the killing of a prime witness in the 2005 murder of then BSP MLA Raju Pal and assured the House that the guilty will be punished.

Later in the day, the Uttar Pradesh police said it has gunned down an accused in the February 24 killing of the prime witness Umesh Pal. Police claimed that they retaliated when the accused opened fire at them.

Umesh Pal and his police security guard Sandeep Nishad were shot dead last Friday outside his home in the Dhoomanganj area of Prayagraj. Another constable was injured in this attack. Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed is the prime accused in the BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder case and is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail.

After the Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha, Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Umashankar Singh raised the issue in the House and demanded a high-level inquiry into the matter. He also sought compensation of Rs 5 crore each and government jobs for the family members of the slain key witness and his security guard.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna condemned the incident.

Giving details of the action taken by the police and in the court since the beginning of the case, he said 10 teams have been formed by the Police Commissioner of Prayagraj to arrest the accused at the earliest. "The STF has also been roped in and we are in the process of announcing rewards for the arrest of the accused," he said.

The government has taken the matter seriously. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday also said that whoever is found guilty will not be spared, Khanna added.

An FIR has been registered against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista, his two sons and accomplices Guddu and Ghulam along with nine others at Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj police station on several serious charges, including murder. The FIR was lodged on the complaint of Umesh Pal's wife Jaya. PTI AR CDN NSD NSD