Atiq Ahmad's brother arrested for sheltering Umesh Pal's killers
Meerut, Apr 2 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) has arrested the brother-in-law of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad for sheltering and providing money to the killers of Umesh Pal -- the key witness in the murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal.
Akhlaq Ahmad, a government doctor, was arrested from Nauchandi area here by an STF team on Saturday night and taken to Prayagraj, said Superintendent of Police, STF, Brijesh Singh.
Umesh Pal and his police security guards Sandeep Nishad and Raghvendra Singh were shot dead on February 24 outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj.
Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station against Atiq Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.
Akhlaq Ahmad, posted at the Abdullapur Community Health Centre, not only provided shelter to the killers of Umesh Pal but also money when they reached Meerut after the murder, sources said.
On March 28, an MP-MLA court in Prayagraj held Atiq Ahmad and two others guilty in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case and sentenced them to rigorous imprisonment for life. Ashraf and six others were acquitted by the court.
This is Atiq Ahmad's first conviction even though more than 100 cases were registered against the former Samajwadi Party MP over the years.
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Tirupati laddu row: Samples of Ayodhya Ram temple 'prasad' sent for testing
Ayodhya, Sep 27: The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department on Friday collected samples of 'elaichi daana' or cardamom seeds being distributed as 'prasad' at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple here and sent them for testing, officials said.
The action was taken following a complaint lodged through the Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS), Assistant Food Commissioner Manik Chand Singh said.
Singh said the samples were procured from Haiderganj, where the cardamom seed offerings are prepared and sent to the Jhansi State Laboratory for comprehensive testing and evaluation.
Prakash Gupta, the officer in charge of the Ram Temple trust, revealed that on average, around 80,000 packets of cardamom seeds are distributed daily as a sacred offering.
Amid a row over the alleged presence of animal fat in laddus at the Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, the chief priest of the Ram temple here on Thursday questioned the purity of ghee being sold nationwide and said 'prasad' should be prepared under the supervision of temple priests only.
