A CBI court in Lucknow on Friday awarded life sentence to six persons in the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal and two others in Prayagraj in January 2005.
The court convicted Farhan Ahmed, Abdul Kavi, Ranjit Pal, Javed, Gulhasan, Abid and Israr Ahmed under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon ), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
A non-bailable warrant was issued by the court against Israr Ahmed who was absent during the sentencing. Former MP Atiq Ahmed and his younger brother and former MLA Khalid Azim, alias Ashraf, who were prime accused in the case, died during the trial.
While Farhan Ahmed and Abdul Kavi are already lodged in jail, Ranjit Pal, Javed, Gulhasan and Abid were out on bail. “The court imposed a fine of Rs 1.9 lakh each on the convicts. It also sentenced Farhan Ahmed to four years imprisonment in the Arms Act case,” Raju Pal’s wife Puja Pal’s lawyer Pranshu Agarwal said.
Defence counsel Suresh Pandey said, “We will file an appeal against the judgment after going through it.”
It was found in the investigation that the murder was a fallout of a political feud between Atiq Ahmed and Raju Pal after Pal won the 2004 Assembly by-election from Prayagraj West seat, it was alleged. The seat was vacated after Atiq became an MP from Phoolpur in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Pal had defeated Ashraf who had contested on Samajwadi Party ticket.
