HC cancels Atiq Ahmed's bail in Raju Pal murder case

In more trouble for gangster- turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is in jail for allegedly assaulting staff members of a university, the Allahabad High Court today cancelled the bail granted to him more than a decade ago in the BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.

A single judge bench of Justice Vipin Sinha passed the order on a petition filed by Pal's wife Pooja who had moved the court alleging that while he was out on bail, Ahmed had tried to influence the investigation into her husband's murder by threatening a number of witnesses in the case.

Pal was shot dead in broad daylight here on January 25, 2005. Ahmed had been granted bail in the case, in which he is a prime accused, in April 2005. A CBI inquiry had been ordered by the Supreme Court last year in the case.

The high court had reserved its judgement on Pooja Pal's petition on May 29.

Ahmed has been in jail since February this year when he was arrested for beating up staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences (SHUATS) situated on the outskirts of the city after they objected to his unlawful entry into the premises.

The high court had on Monday dismissed Ahmed's bail plea in the case.

BSP MLA Raju Pal was murdered barely three months after he won Allahabad (West) assembly seat in his electoral debut by defeating Ahmed's younger brother Ashraf. The by-election was necessitated after Ahmed, a five-time MLA from the seat, got elected to the Lok Sabha from Phulpur.

Ashraf wrested the seat for the SP in the by-poll that followed Pal's murder but lost it to Pooja in the 2007 assembly polls.

The young widow retained the seat in 2012, despite her party BSP humiliating defeat in the assembly polls.

She, however, lost the seat to BJP's Siddharth Nath Singh in the recently held assembly elections.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)