India News | 2 Arrested for Facilitating Meets Between Atiq Ahmed's Jailed Brother Ashraf and His Aides

Bareilly, Mar 7 (PTI) A prison guard and another person were arrested on Tuesday for allegedly facilitating meetings between jailed former MLA Ashraf, brother of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, and his close aides illegally, a police official said.

Ashraf has been lodged in the Bareilly district prison since July 2020. Atiq Ahmed, currently lodged in a Gujarat prison, is the main accused in the 2005 murder case of BSP legislator Raju Pal. Atiq and Ashraf were recently booked in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case.

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Other than prison guard Shivhari Awasthi, the other person arrested was identified as Dayaram, who used to be a supplier associated with the jail canteen, the police official added.

Two mobile phones and Rs 3,920 cash have been recovered from them.

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A case has been registered at the Bithri Chainpur police station against five named people, including Ashraf, he said, adding unidentified prison officials and unknown aides of Ashraf have also been mentioned in it.

Superintendent of Police (City) Rahul Bhati said based on a complaint lodged by in-charge of police outpost of new jail Anil Kumar, the case was registered against Khalid Azeem alias Ashraf, his brother-in-law Saddam, Lalla Gaddi, Dayaram and Shivhari Awasthi.

It has been alleged in the complaint that Dayaram, while supplying vegetables and other goods to the jail canteen, used to take cash and other items, and gift them to the jail officials, Bhati said.

The SP said Shivhari Awasthi, acting on orders of his officers, used to facilitate meetings of six-seven people on a single ID twice or thrice a week at places other than the designated area inside the prison.

The meeting between Ashraf and his relatives and aides would last for one-two hours, and Awasthi used to take money to arrange these, as per the complaint.

In another development, police in Bareilly said a case of cheating and theft was registered against Saddam and raids were being conducted to arrest him.

The case was lodged on Tuesday based on a complaint by Azam Nagar resident Mohammad Haseen, SP (City) Bhati said.

The complainant alleged that Saddam rented an accommodation from his brother Mohammad Tasleem at their Khushbu colony residence under a false identity and threatened to kill him when asked for rent. The complainant added that Saddam also stole books, Aadhaar cards and Rs 50,000 cash from the house.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)