It started with a defeat in an election, and the bruised egos had a bloody fallout. In 2004, after Atiq Ahmed received the Lok Sabha polls to Phulpur constituency right here, his youthful brother Ashraf contested from Allahabad West Assembly seat – polls necessitated after Atiq Ahmed resigned to grow to be an MP – on a Samajwadi Party ticket. For Ashraf, victory was a foregone conclusion however he surprisingly misplaced to Raju Pal, a novice candidate fielded by the BSP.
Atiq Ahmed couldn’t digest the defeat because it got here as a problem to his personal fiefdom. The electoral tussle was political rivalry and on January 25, 2005, a day earlier than Republic Day, when the BSP MLA was leaving for his house from Swaroop Rani Nehru hospital, a automotive overtook his SUV within the Sulem Sarai space of town and Raju Pal was shot lifeless by assailants who closely opened hearth on his automotive.
Two different individuals together with Raju Pal had been additionally killed within the assault and the autopsy report had acknowledged that round 18 bullets had been present in Raju Pal`s physique. A CBI probe into the incident named 10 individuals as accused together with Atiq Ahmed and his youthful brother. Raju Pal`s spouse, Puja Pal, whom he married simply 11 days earlier than his homicide, then contested from the Allahabad West seat however misplaced to Ashraf. However, she was once more given a ticket by the BSP in 2007 Assembly elections and she or he received.
In the 2017 Assembly polls, Puja misplaced to BJP`s Siddharth Nath Singh however received the 2022 polls from Chail seat. Ashraf`s political profession couldn’t take off regardless of one of the best efforts of his brother and for this, he by no means forgave Raju Pal and his pals. Umesh Pal, an affiliate of Raju Pal, was the primary witness in his homicide.
Since Umesh Pal refused to succumb to Atiq Ahmed`s strain, he was kidnapped in 2006 and compelled to present a press release in court docket in favour of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf within the Raju Pal homicide. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf had been convicted and had been awarded a life sentence within the abduction case, a month after Umesh Pal was shot lifeless in February this yr.
Karwariya household’s entry into the scene
In between, Umesh Pal`s stature grew independently and he was now not snug tagging behind Puja Pal, widow of Raju Pal. Sources declare that Umesh Pal was discovering acceptance within the Karwariya camp. Kapil Muni Karwariya is a former BJP MP and his brother Uday Bhan Karwariya, a former MLA – each had been awarded a life sentence for the homicide of SP chief Jawahar Yadav. When Uday Bhan`s spouse Neelam Karwariya received the Meja seat on a BJP ticket in 2017, Umesh Pal grew to become pals with the household whose clout was rising by the day.
Interestingly, quite a lot of Atiq Ahmed`s supporters additionally switched loyalties to the Karwariya household and pictures of Ghulam Mohd – who was shot lifeless with Asad on Thursday – posing with Neelam Karwariya at her celebration are doing rounds on the social media. After the homicide of Umesh Pal, in a single video Puja Pal is seen reprimanding Umesh Pal`s spouse for `feeding parathas to these individuals regardless of my warning`. The police, for some cause, didn’t pursue this angle.
Sources in Prayagraj now say that Umesh Pal was killed as a result of his loyalty was suspected – each to Atiq and to Karwariyas. Puja Pal`s studied silence on the Umesh Pal homicide and its penalties additionally leaves a lot to be stated. However, since investigators are firmly specializing in Atiq Ahmed`s function within the homicide, the reality, maybe, will `by no means be identified`.
