‘Asad, aide were travelling across…’: UP STF on Atiq Ahmad son's encounter

The Umesh Pal murder case was important and challenging for UP Police and UP special task force (STF) as it involved the killing of a key witness along with two policemen providing him with security, a senior police official said on Thursday. Amitabh Yash, ADG Uttar Pradesh STF, called the encounter of Asad Ahmad, son of mafioso-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, and Ghulam Mohammad, both accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, a “huge success”. (Also Read | Asad Ahmad killing: Akhilesh Yadav slams BJP, Yogi over 'fake encounter')

“It was an important case for UP Police and UP STF because a key witness in a case (BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder), along with two police security guards with automatic weapons were killed,” the official said.

“It was an attack on the criminal justice system,” he added, referring to the murder of Umesh Pal and his police security guard.

Umesh Pal was a key witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, in which Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf are the main accused. Atiq Ahmad has already been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Umesh Pal abduction case.

(Also Read | Atiq breaks down in court after son Asad's encounter, bystander hurls bottle)

Earlier today, Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and an accomplice, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police in Jhansi on Thursday, officials said.

Asad and his aide Ghulam were journeying across multiple states following Umesh Pal's murder, according to police. Acting on a tip, the police located them in Jhansi, where they retaliated by firing on the officers, said Anant Dev Tiwari, the Deputy Inspector General of UP STF.

"They (Asad and his aide Ghulam) were travelling across several states after the Umesh Pal murder incident. We received a tip-off and zeroed in on them in Jhansi. They fired on the police team after which the STF team shot them down," Tiwari said.