Bareilly (Uttar Pradesh), Mar 8 (IANS): A jail guard and a vegetable vendor have now been arrested for allegedly facilitating meetings between jailed former MLA, Ashraf, brother of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, and his close aides illegally in the Bareilly district jail.

Those arrested were jail guard Shivhari Awasthi, and Dayaram, who used to supply vegetables to the jail canteen.

The police have recovered two mobile phones and Rs 3,920 from their possession.

Ashraf has been lodged in the Bareilly district jail since July 2020.

Additional superintendent of police, Rahul Bhati, said, "Dayaram, while supplying vegetables and other goods to the jail canteen from his tempo, used to take cash and other items, and give them to Ashraf."

Preliminary probe reveals that Shivhari Awasthi, acting on orders of his officers, used to facilitate meetings of six-seven people on a single ID twice or thrice a week at places other than the designated area inside the prison, said the ASP.

ASP further added that meetings between Ashraf and his relatives and aides would last for one-two hours, and

Awasthi used to take money to arrange these, as per the complaint.

Atiq Ahmed, currently lodged in a Gujarat jail, is the main accused in the 2005 murder case of BSP legislator Raju Pal.

Atiq and Ashraf were recently booked in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case.

A senior police officer said that Ashraf has 52 cases in his name and was also charge-sheeted by the CBI in the Raju Pal murder case of 2005.

"We are investigating if the plan to eliminate Umesh Pal had taken place in Bareilly jail," he said.