On Thursday, April 13, Asad Ahmed, the son of gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed, was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police Special Task Force. Now reports have emerged that, the 19-year-old Asad Ahmed, who was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, was engaged to his cousin Mantasha and planned to marry her this year in Meerut.
Mantasha is the daughter of Atiq Ahmed’s sister Ayesha Noori and brother-in-law Akhlaq Ahmed, who are also co-accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.
As per reports, Asad and Mantasha were engaged and the preparations for their marriage, which was fixed for this year, were in full swing. However, after Umesh Pal’s murder, everything changed for both families. The date had to be postponed.
Reportedly, Akhlaq Ahmed visited Atiq Ahmed in Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat to seek his approval for the marriage. However, later, Akhlaq was also arrested on charges of sheltering the assailants in the Umesh Pal murder case and sent to jail. Ayesha Noori also fled with her other two daughters, putting the marriage in jeopardy.
It may be recalled that UP’s Prayagraj Police probing the Umesh Pal murder case had in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) arrested Atiq Ahmed’s brother-in-law, Akhlaq Ahmed, in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case on April 2, 2023. The police revealed that Atiq Ahmad’s brother-in-law, Akhlaq Ahmad, was not only involved in the conspiracy to kill lawyer Umesh Pal but also financed the shooters of the lawyer.
In fact, several meetings were held at Akhlaq’s house to execute the sensational murder. The most wanted assailant, Guddu Muslim, who threw crude bombs during the Umesh Pal shootout, also took shelter in Akhlaq’shouse in Meerut for around 18 hours on March 5.
A CCTV footage that emerged showed that Akhlaq’s family members welcomed Guddu Muslim while Akhlaq and his son Shadab hugged him.
Shadab took Guddu into one of the rooms in the house. Police officials said after staying at Akhlaq’s residence for 18 hours, Guddu Muslim took a bus to Delhi on March 6 night. He arrived at Akhlaq’s home with a bag and a mobile phone, which was switched off. Akhlaq also gave Rs 50,000 to Guddu Muslim allegedly at the behest of Atiq Ahmed.
According to media reports, the police have registered an FIR against 18 people in the Umesh Pal murder case including dreaded gangster turned politician Atiq Ahmed. Most of these people belong to Atiq’s family. Apart from Atiq, his wife Shaista Parveen, brother Ashraf Ahmed, five sons including Asad, sister Ayesha, brother-in-law Dr Akhlaq, Guddu Muslim, Shadakat, Armaan, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, Mohammad Ghulam, Arbaz, Sabir, Kais Ahmed, Arshad Katra, Niyaz, Iqbal Ahmed, Shahrukh and some unknown people are among the accused.
So far, four accused in Umesh Pal’s murder namely Atiq’s third son Asad, shooter Usman, Arbaaz, and Mohammad Ghulam have been killed in police encounters. Additionally, the authorities employed bulldozers to demolish the premises of the accused, who are said to be close associates of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed. Bulldozers were also utilised at the home of Mohammad Ghulam, who was also killed in the encounter with UP Police STF, yesterday.
