By Admin 
The Prayagraj unit of the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested a close aide of former mafia leader Atiq Ahmed, who had a reward of Rs 50,000. Officials gave this information on Thursday. A senior police officer said that the STF team arrested the accused officer Ahmed from Amar Colony area of Delhi on Wednesday.
Officials said he was wanted in a case registered at Bithri Chainpur police station in Bareilly, where a reward was announced for his arrest. According to the police, Afsar is accused of organizing a meeting between the shooters involved in the Umeshpal murder case and Atiq Ahmed’s brother and former MLA Ashraf, who was lodged in Bareilly jail at that time.
The case was registered at Bithri Chainpur police station, after which officials announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for the arrest of Afsar. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were accused of murdering Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal in 2005, in which Umesh Pal was a key witness. On 24 February 2023, Umesh Pal and his two government security personnel were murdered in broad daylight in Prayagraj.
Bareilly Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Anurag Arya said that STF has arrested Afsar Ahmed for his alleged involvement in the conspiracy of Umesh Pal murder case.
The officer is accused of helping organize an illegal meeting between Ashraf and the shooters in Bareilly District Jail in connivance with the jail staff. According to the police, during an unauthorized meeting inside the jail, Ashraf met nine people, including Guddu Muslim, Ghulam, Asad, Arman, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, and Sadaqat Khan.
Police said that CCTV footage and call detail records (CDR) later confirmed that the conspiracy to murder Umesh Pal was hatched in this meeting.
Atiq Ahmed and his associates were made accused in the murder of Umesh Pal. On April 15, 2023, Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead by three people disguised as journalists. At the time of the murder, he was being taken to a hospital in Prayagraj for health checkup. The attackers were arrested after the incident.