Umesh Pal case: Convict Atiq Ahmed returns to Sabarmati jail after life sentence verdict in Prayagraj Court

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed has been brought back to the Sabarmati Jail after he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the MP-MLA court in Prayagraj earlier this week.

Atiq Ahmed was brought to Prayagraj from Ahmedabad for his court hearing on March 28.

Atiq's brother Ashraf is also an accused in the case and was also shifted to Prayagraj from Gujarat but he was acquitted by the court.

He was convicted in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case along with Dinesh Pasi and Khan Saulat Hanif. This is the first time that Atiq Ahmed, who has over 100 cases against him over the last 43 years, has been convicted in a case.

What is the Umesh Pal case?

Ahmed’s conviction comes after Umesh Pal, an advocate and a prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal.

Umesh Pal had told police that he was a witness to the murder. He reportedly claimed that when he refused to retract and buckle under pressure from Ahmed, he was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 28, 2006.

The FIR was registered on July 5, 2007, against Ahmed, his brother, and four unidentified people.

Ahmed is also the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Apart from Umesh Pal, his two security personnel were also shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year.