Samajwadi Party MLA Pooja Pal

NEW DELHI: Samajwadi Party MLA Pooja Pal on Thursday thanked Uttar Pradesh chief ministerYogi Adityanath for bringing her justice, saying he had “buried” dreaded gangster Atiq Ahmed, who was behind the killing of her husband, Raju Pal.She said CM Yogi’s “zero-tolerance policy” against crime delivered justice in the 2005 murder of her husband, who was the BSP MLA.“Everyone knows who murdered my husband (Raju Pal). I want to thank the chief minister for bringing me justice and hearing me when nobody else did,” she said during the 24-hour marathon debate on Vision Document 2047. “The CM gave justice to many other women like me in Prayagraj by bringing in policies like zero tolerance that led to the killing of criminals like Atiq Ahmed. Today, the entire state looks at the CM with trust.”She added, “Mere pati ke hatyare Atiq Ahmed ko Mukhya Mantri ne mitti mein milaane ka kaam kiya” (The chief minister has buried my husband’s murderer Atiq Ahmed).Pooja Pal said she raised her voice when no one was ready to stand up to criminals like Atiq Ahmed. “When I started getting exhausted with this fight, CM Yogi Adityanath gave me justice,” she told the House.Raju Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj in 2005, days after his wedding. The main accused, gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, faced trial for years without a final verdict. In February 2023, Umesh Pal, a key witness in the case, was killed in a daylight attack in Prayagraj’s Sulem Saray area. Several rounds were fired and crude bombs hurled at Umesh and his gunners.The killings reignited pressure on the state’s crackdown against organised crime. Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were later arrested. On April 15, 2023, both were shot dead by assailants posing as journalists while being escorted for a medical check-up in Prayagraj.