Atiq said he has links to ISI, LeT: UP police

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf allegedly told the police that they had direct links to the Inter Services Intelligence and the Lashkar-e-Taiba and used those ties to procure sophisticated weaponry, the police said in a application before a Prayagraj court on Thursday.

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The disclosure came in an application seeking police custody, filed by station house officer of the station house office of Dhoomanganj police station, Rajesh Kumar Maurya, who is the investigation officer in the Umesh Pal murder case. Atiq and Ashraf are both accused in the February 24 killing of the Prayagraj-based lawyer, who was the main witness in a sensational 2005 murder.

“...I have no dearth of weapons because I have direct connections with Pakistan’s ISI and terror organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba. Weapons from Pakistan are dropped on the Punjab border with the help of drones and local connection collects them. Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir get weapons from this consignment. If you take me with you, I can help you recover that money, arms and ammunition used in the incident,” the application quoted Atiq as purportedly saying.

The chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Prayagraj sent Atiq and Ashraf to 14-day judicial custody and also allowed a four-day police remand for both of them. The police remand will begin from April 13 and continue till 5pm on April 17.The judicial custody will continue till April 26. THIS WILL BE SIMULTANEOUS?

Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf will be kept in Naini jail.

In order to obtain the necessary information regarding the weapons used and obtained, the police custody remand of the two men is necessary, the investigating officer added in his application.

Umesh Pal -- a key witness in the 2005 killing of Bahujan Samaj Party lawmaker Raju Pal -- and two police security guards were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj’s Dhoomanganj area on February 24.

Atiq Ahmed, his wife Shaista Parveen, brother Ashraf, their sons and others were made accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, which is based on a complaint by Jaya Pal, Umesh Pal’s wife. Both Atiq and Ashraf were also accused in the Raju Pal murder case.

Atiq is also named in 100-odd other cases, and was convicted and sentenced to life in jail in a 2006 abduction case.