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Days after the daylight killing of a murder witness in Uttar Pradesh, local authorities bulldozed the home of a close relative of gangster Atiq Ahmed, who has been accused of planning the killing.
Lawyer Umesh Pal, a witness in a politician's murder case dating back to 2005, was killed by five men on Friday in a shootout outside his Prayagraj home along with his security guard.
The police said that the killing had been planned by gangster-turned politician and former Samajwadi Party leader Atiq Ahmed, according to NDTV.
Umesh Pal was a witness to the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Raju Pal, who was Ahmed's rival. The police said that Ahmed, who is currently jailed in Ahmedabad, sent five of his associates to kill Umesh before the latter could record his statement in the case.
On Wednesday, bulldozers arrived at the home of Zafar Ahmed, a close aide of Atiq, who has been missing since the shootout. Weapon, documents, and photographs were reportedly seized from the house.
The police are also said to have raided Atiq's home in Lucknow and seized two of his luxury cars.
This comes close on the heels of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath lashing out at the SP in the state Assembly, saying that his government would "run the mafia into the ground."
"Is it not true that the accused against whom the FIR has been lodged, was made an MP by Samajwadi Party? You raise and nurture all the criminals, garland them and then blame others when a crime takes place. By doing this, you are just making a spectacle of yourself," Adityanath had said.
(With inputs from NDTV.)
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