Anatomy of Raju Pal’s murder: Two SUVs, dozen armed men and a volley of gunfire

It was around 3 pm on January 25, 2005. Raju Pal, the BSP MLA from the erstwhile Allahabad West, was returning home at Neewa in the Dhumanganj area from the SRN Hospital’s post-mortem house in the now Prayagraj.

The reason for his hospital visit was the murder of a student who hailed from his constituency. Pal was accompanied by four of his followers in another SUV or sports utility vehicle (SUV).

As the two vehicles reached Sulemsarai on GT Road, Pal and his men were surrounded by over a dozen armed assailants who rained bullets on them. Pal was driving his SUV. Sitting next to him was Rukhsana, a friend’s wife whom he was giving a lift home.

Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal, two of his supporters, were also in the same vehicle. The men in the second SUV were driver Mahendra Patel, Omprakash and Saif, all of whom were from Neewa, a known stronghold of Pal. An armed police constable in each of the vehicles accompanied Pal and his men.

The prolonged firing created panic in the area. Pedestrians ran helter-skelter as both SUVs crashed into each other.

By the time the sound of gun firing and screams faded away, the sitting MLA had been murdered in broad daylight. Pal had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.

A crowd gathered at the site, and within some time a horde of police personnel reached the spot. Among them were SP (City) Rajesh Krishna, SSP Sunil Gupta and station house officer of Dhumanganj police station Parshuram Singh.

All, including Raju Pal, who suffered bullet wounds, were rushed to Jeevan Jyoti Hospital in an autorickshaw. Along with Pal, his aides Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal were also killed in the shootout.

Before Pal’s body could be sent for postmortem at SRN Hospital, his supporters unofficially took its possession to stage a roadblock in Sulemsarai. They also indulged in stone pelting. Police, somehow, managed to take the body back and send it for post-mortem.

The incident had the entire city on its toes.

The MLA’s wife Puja Pal later filed a complaint under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 302 (murder), 120 (criminal conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC against nine persons in connection with her husband’s murder at the Dhumanganj police station.

Nine people, including then SP MP from Phulpur Atiq Ahmed, his younger brother Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf, and close relatives Farhan, Abid, Ranjit Pal and Gufran, were named in it.

Just months before the murder, Ashraf had suffered defeat at the hands of Raju Pal in the by-election to the Allahabad West assembly seat held in October of 2004. Atiq had won the seat five times between 1989 and 2002 before vacating it after his election to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur in May 2004.