Lucknow (PTI): Uttar Pradesh Police has increased the reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including former MP Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, in the Umesh Pal murder case from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, an official said.

The other four accused are Arman, Gulam, Guddu and Sabir, he said.

Umesh Pal, the key witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, and his police security guard Sandeep Nishad were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj on February 24.

Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered at Dhoomanganj police station against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

The reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including Atiq Ahmed's son Asad, has been increased to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh, a senior police official told PTI on Monday.

Two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal's murder -- Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman -- were killed in encounters with the police on February 27 and March 6 respectively.

Atiq Ahmed is currently lodged in a Gujarat jail. 

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Sabarkantha (Gujarat) (PTI): Seven men were killed and one was grievously injured when a speeding car rammed into a trailer truck on a highway near Himatnagar in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district early Wednesday morning, police said.

Due to the impact of the crash, the car was badly mangled and the bodies were retrieved after hectic efforts, they said. Rescue teams had to use a gas-cutter to remove the car scrap to pull out the bodies, an official said.

The accident occurred on a national highway connecting Udaipur (in Rajasthan) to Ahmedabad (Gujarat) at around 6.30 am, according to police.

"Seven car occupants were killed in the accident," Superintendent of Police Vijay Patel said.

"The car was carrying eight persons to Ahmedabad when it hit the trailer truck from behind while it was going ahead on the national highway," a Himatnagar police official said.

One passenger was grievously injured and rushed to a civil hospital for treatment, he said.

All the deceased were men, hailing from Ahmedabad. Their identities were being confirmed, the official said.