Umesh Pal murder: Reward for information on 5 accused doubled to Rs 5 lakh

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Police has increased the reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including former MP Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, in the Umesh Pal murder case from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, an official said.

The other four accused are Arman, Gulam, Guddu and Sabir, he said.

Umesh Pal, the key witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, and his police security guard Sandeep Nishad were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj on February 24.

Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

The reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, has been increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh, a senior police official told PTI on Monday.

Two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal's murder -- Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman -- were killed in encounters with the police on February 27 and March 6 respectively.

Atiq Ahmed is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail.