Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has slammed Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for using 'fake encounters' to divert attention from 'real issues'. Yadav, a former UP chief minister, tweeted shortly after state police confirmed the killing of Asad Ahmad - the son of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad - in an encounter in Jhansi district. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has slammed Uttar Pradesh's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party for using 'fake encounters' to divert attention from 'real issues'. Yadav, a former UP chief minister, tweeted shortly after state police confirmed the killing of Asad Ahmad - the son of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad - in an encounter in Jhansi district.
Asad and another accused in the same case - Ghulam - were shot dead in Jhansi and police recovered two foreign-made weapons. Each had a reward of ₹5 lakh on their heads. The weapons were a .455 bore British Bulldog revolver and Walther P88 7.63 bore pistol. Asad Ahmad was killed on the day his father was produced before a court in Prayagraj in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. According to reports, Atiq cried in court when told of his son's death. Earlier, he had a bottle thrown at him while being taken inside. Police teams are still carrying out search operations in the area. It can be noted that in March, Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav had said one of Atiq Ahmed's sons would be shot soon. Two of Atiq's sons are accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 murder case of then BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two police security guards were shot dead outside his home in Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj area on February 24 this year. In a CCTV footage, Asad was seen attacking Asad and his guards. Asad was seen attempting to shoot Umesh Pal in the head. Based on a complaint lodged by Umesh Pal's wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered on February 25 against Atiq Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, Asad, Ghulam and others. After killing Umesh Pal in Paryagraj, and with the police tailing them, Asad and Ghulam went to Kanpur on a bike. From there they went to the Noida DND by bus. After getting off there, some people helped them flee to Delhi's Sangam Vihar in an auto. They stayed there for 15 days.