The Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested three men who allegedly gave shelter to a man wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case in Uttar Pradesh, officials said.

Umesh Pal was a key witness in the 2005 killing of then Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Raju Pal.

Javed, Khalid, and Jeeshan have been sent to judicial custody, the officials said on Sunday. They are accused of aiding Asad and harbouring him in the national capital after Umesh Pal's killing. Asad is the son of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad.

The name of Ali, Ahmad's other son, has also surfaced in the killing of Umesh Pal.

According to the police, Avtar Singh -- a man they arrested in a case registered under the Arms Act -- disclosed that he had supplied 10 weapons to Khalid and Jeeshan.

"We launched a manhunt and deployed sources. Based on a secret input, on March 28, Khalid and Jeeshan were arrested from Delhi's Sheikh Sarai. Two weapons and live cartridges were also seized from them," a senior police officer said.

During the investigation, the duo disclosed that they had provided shelter to Asad and Ghulam, wanted by Uttar Pradesh Police in the Umesh Pal murder case, he said.

Subsequently, Javed was arrested on March 31 and a case was registered at the Special Cell, the officer said.

"Javed disclosed that Asad and Ghulam had also met him after Umesh Pal's murder. All three arrested accused -- Javed, Khalid, Jeeshan -- are in judicial custody," he added.

Uttar Pradesh Police has also booked Ahmad, his wife Shaista Parveen and his son Ali in a forgery case linked to the murder of Umesh Pal.

The FIR was registered on Saturday at Prayagraj's Dhoomanganj police station in which two more persons -- Mohammad Sabir and Rakesh alias Nakesh alias Lala -- have been named, the police said in a statement.

Umesh Pal and his two police security guards were shot dead on February 24 outside his home in Dhoomanganj.

Based on a complaint lodged by his wife Jaya Pal, a case was registered on February 25 against Ahmad, his brother Ashraf, Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

On March 28, an MP/MLA court held Ahmad and two others guilty in the 2006 kidnapping of Umesh Pal and sentenced them to life in prison. That was Ahmad's first conviction even though there are more than 100 cases registered against him.

The 60-year-old former Samajwadi Party MP was brought to Prayagraj from Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat by road for a hearing in the case.

In 2006, Ahmad and his aides abducted Umesh Pal and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour. Umesh Pal had registered a complaint in this regard.

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