Atiq Ahmed, currently lodged in Sabarmati jail, to be shifted to high-security barrack in Prayagraj prison

A 45-member team of Uttar Pradesh Police will shift gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is currently lodged in Gujarat's Sabarmati Jail, to Prayagraj jail, an official said on Sunday. Ahmed is the main accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.

Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, and his two security personnel were shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24 this year.

The Prayagraj Police team reached the Sabarmati jail today to transport him to Prayagraj jail.

Prayagraj Police Commissioner Ramit Sharma said that Atiq is to be produced before a court on March 28 in connection with a kidnapping case, the verdict of which is slated to be pronounced on the same day.

"Court has fixed March 28 as the date for the pronouncing the verdict in an old kidnapping case...All the accused have to be produced before the Court in this matter. To produce Mafia Atiq Ahmed before Court, an accused in this case, a Police team has been sent to Sabarmati jail," the Commissioner said. DG (prisons) Anand Kumar said that preparations have been made for Atiq in the Prayagraj jail. The jailed politician will be kept in a high-security barrack with a round-the-clock CCTV camera for surveillance.

"Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed will be kept in isolation in a high-security barrack at the jail. His cell will have a CCTV camera. Jail staff will be chosen & deployed on the basis of their records, they will have body-worn cameras," Kumar said.

"Prayagraj Jail office and Jail HQ will monitor round the clock through a video wall. DIG Jail HQ is being sent to ensure all the arrangements at Prayagraj Jail," he added.

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