Prayagraj authorities demolish ancestral home of Umesh Pal murder accused

Prayagraj (UP): The Prayagraj Development Authority on Monday demolished the ancestral home of Mohammad Ghulam, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Umesh Pal was a witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal.

Mohammad Ghulam’s brother Rahil Hasan, former president of the BJP Minority Morcha’s Mahanagar unit, claimed that Ghulam had sold off his share in the house and had nothing to do with it.

A Prayagraj Development Authority team reached Rasoolabad in the Shivkuti area around noon and vacated the house. Roads on both sides of the house were barricaded before the demolition process began using two bulldozers in the presence of a large police force. The action was in line with the demolition of unauthorised buildings of “mafia and anti-socials” after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath’s “mitti mein mila denge” comment in the assembly during which he also accused the opposition Samajwadi Party of patronising gangster-politicians such as Atiq Ahmed.

Ahmed is the main accused in the Raju Pal murder case. He was recently booked in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal. Local residents stood on rooftops and across the barricades to witness the demolition, which was completed in four hours.

A Prayagraj Development Authority official said the authorities did not pass the blueprint of the house and the construction was “unauthorised.”