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After toll barriers breach, UP Police probe fleet that followed Umar Ahmed’s convoy
Police have identified some vehicle owners through registration numbers and started questioning them. Investigators are seeking to establish who was driving the vehicles and who the passengers were at the time of the incidents. They are also examining whether the vehicles accompanied Umar’s convoy from Lucknow or joined it at different points on the route to Prayagraj.
The Uttar Pradesh Police have launched a probe into a fleet of private vehicles that allegedly followed the prison convoy carrying Umar Ahmed from Lucknow to Prayagraj under police custody to attend the funeral of his younger brother, Abaan Ahmed, son of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed. Four FIRs have been registered in Prayagraj, Pratapgarh and Fatehpur over alleged toll plaza violations, threats to staff and attempts to drive vehicles into employees.
Police are examining CCTV footage and vehicle registration details to identify those who travelled in the vehicles and establish who coordinated their movement.
According to Prayagraj police sources, the FIR lodged at Nawabganj police station mentions 10 vehicles registered in Prayagraj, nine in Lucknow, and one each in Azamgarh, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Jhansi and Delhi, besides several unidentified vehicles.
Police have identified some vehicle owners through registration numbers and started questioning them. Investigators are seeking to establish who was driving the vehicles and who the passengers were at the time of the incidents. They are also examining whether the vehicles accompanied Umar’s convoy from Lucknow or joined it at different points on the route to Prayagraj.
The probe is focused on determining the relationship between the occupants of the private vehicles and why they followed the prison convoy. Vehicle owners are being questioned about who informed them about the trip and why they joined the convoy, according to police officials.
Investigators are also trying to establish who coordinated or directed the movement of the large number of private vehicles from Lucknow to Prayagraj. Mobile phone location data and communication records may also be examined to establish links.
In Fatehpur, two FIRs were registered against the drivers and occupants of 21 private vehicles following the police convoy, on complaints from staff at Barouri and Katoghan toll plazas. The cases were registered at Kalyanpur and Khaga police stations.
According to police, the convoy passed Barouri toll plaza around 2.30pm on August 8, while Umar was being taken from Jhansi jail to Prayagraj under police escort. Several private vehicles were travelling behind the police convoy.
Barouri toll manager and complainant Jitendra Singh alleged that occupants of the vehicles attempted to cross the toll booth without paying. When staff tried to stop them, they allegedly abused and threatened the employees.
A similar incident was reported at Katoghan toll plaza around 3.45pm.
The Khaga FIR concerns 11 vehicles, while the Kalyanpur FIR concerns 10 vehicles, police said. The FIRs invoke Sections 191(2), 281, 109, 352 and 351(3) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Fatehpur SP Abhimanyu Manglik said both cases were registered on the toll managers’ complaints and an investigation was underway. “The CCTV footage has been secured and is being examined,” he said.
“The accused are being identified based on CCTV footage and vehicle registration numbers,” said Kuldeep Singh Gunawat, DCP Ganganagar, Prayagraj.
