A don-turned-politician who has held elected posts several times and is in jail over a Bahujan Samaj Par ty leader’s murder has been booked along with his wife, brother and two sons for the killing of a witness in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.

Atiq Ahmad, a five-time MLA and one-term MP who is in Ahmadabad jail for the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Raju Pal, Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen, brother Ashraf Ahmad and two sons Ahzam and Aban are being questioned in connection with the murder of Umesh Pal, the witness in Raju Pal’s murder, in Allahabad.

Atiq, who was earlier with the Samajwadi Party, is now with the Apna Dal. Umesh had recently joined the BJP.

Jaya Pal, wife of Umesh, said in a written complaint to the police that all five and their over two dozen sharp shooters were involved in the murder of her husband. She said Umesh was in the process of deposing in the murder of Raju and Allahabad High Court had recently ordered that the case be disposed of in two months.

“Atiq and his brother are lodged in jails in BSP MLA Raju Pal’s murder case and their conviction was inevitable within a month. This was the reason they planned to kill Umesh Pal, the main witness in the murder case,” she stated in the FIR submitted on Saturday.

Sandeep Nishad, one of the two constables providing security to Umesh, was also killed in the attack.

Atiq and his brother Ashraf are lodged in Ahmadabad and Bareilly jails, respectively, on the charge of killing Raju. Raju had defeated Ashraf in a by-election in 2004 in Allahabad West, which was represented by Atiq for five consecutive terms from 1989 to 2004 before he resigned after his election as Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur.

Atiq’s eldest son Umar Ahmad and second son Ali Ahmad are in Lucknow and Allahabad’s Naini jails in different cases of attempt to murder and extortion.

Several unverified videos in circulation on social media show the killers in cars, nearby shops and on motorcycles waiting for Umesh near his house in Dhumanganj. The killers fire at him and his security guards and also throw bombs at them when they come out of the car. A person resembling Umesh falls on the roadside. Later, he stands up and runs towards his house but the killers follow him while firing from pistols and throwing bombs.

An argument broke out in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly over Umesh’s murder.

While Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav expressed concern over “lawlessness and anarchy” in the state, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said: “I will decimate the mafia in UP. The one who is allegedly behind the incident belongs to the Samajwadi Party. He (Atiq) was made SP MP after he committed the crime (the murder of Raju). We have put him in jail. Anyone who is responsible for the murders (of Umesh and his guard) will be brought to book and punished soon.”