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Atiq Ahmed

Atiq Ahmed (10 August 1962 – 15 April 2023) was a notorious Indian gangster and politician.[2][3][4] He served as a member of the Indian Parliament and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Samajwadi Party.[5][6] Ahmed had more than 160 criminal cases registered against him and competed in several elections from jail.[7][8] As of March 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Police had seized properties worth ₹11,684 crore (US$1.4 billion) belonging to Ahmed and his family.[9][10] In 2019, he was convicted of kidnapping a witness who testified against him regarding the 2005 murder of his political rival Raju Pal.[11] Ahmed remained in jail until his assassination by three gunmen on his way to a court-mandated medical checkup on 15 April 2023.[12][13][14][15]

Early and personal life

Atiq Ahmed was born in 1962 to a poor family. His father was a horse-cart driver in Allahabad.[16]

Ahmed was married to Shaista Parveen.[17] The couple had five sons Umar (1998), Ali (2002), Asad (2003-2023), Ahzam (2005) and Abaan (2008).[18] Ahmed's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf was also an ex-MLA from the Samajwadi Party.[19][20]

Political career

Entry into politics

Ahmed entered politics in 1989 when he won a MLA seat in Allahabad West as an independent candidate. He retained his seat in the 1991 and 1993 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and then won the seat in 1996 as a Samajwadi Party (SP) member.[21]

As a member of Lok Sabha

In 1999, he left the SP and became the president of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), winning the Allahabad West seat in 2002. He rejoined the SP in 2003. In 2004, Ahmed was elected as the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament for Phulpur, after which he resigned from his MLA seat in Allahabad.[21][22]

In 2007, he was expelled from SP after he provided protection to men with allegations of rape in a madrasa and the massive outcry caused by the event.[16]

In the 2009 Indian general elections, Atiq Ahmed was allowed to run for election, since he was yet to be convicted in any criminal case.[23] However, the Samajwadi Party expelled him in the year 2008 and Mayawati refused him a ticket under Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).[24] Later, he contested elections as a candidate for the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) party in Pratapgarh, only to lose the election.[25]

Participation from prison

Ahmed contested the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections under the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) banner for the Allahabad (West) constituency. He filed his nomination from jail.[26] He appealed for bail in the Allahabad High Court, but ten judges recused themselves from hearing his case.[7] The Economic Times and The Times of India reported that the judges' refusals were due to Ahmed's "terror".[27][28] The eleventh judge released him on bail before the elections,[7][27] but the election was won by Raju Pal's widow, Puja Pal.[29]

In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the national elections for the Shrawasti constituency. He secured a quarter of the votes but lost by more than 85,000 votes to Daddan Mishra of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[30]

In 2019, Ahmed contested against Narendra Modi from Varanasi constituency as an independent candidate and secured 833 votes.[31]

Electoral history

Ahmed has been elected as 5 times MLA and 1 time Lok Sabha MP.[32]

Criminal cases

Introduction to crime

Ahmed entered the world of crime by stealing coal from trains and selling it for profit. This later transformed into threatening contractors for obtaining government tenders for railway scrap metal. His first criminal record was in 1979, when he was accused of murder in Prayagraj. He also became the first person to be booked under the Goonda Act in Uttar Pradesh.[16]

In his early days, Ahmed worked closely with other notorious members of the criminal organization in Allahabad namely Chand Baba. After the encounter of his biggest competitor Shaukat Ilahi in 1990, Ahmed became very powerful and became known for extortion, kidnapping and murder.[16]

Raju Pal murder

In 2004, Ahmed vacated the Allahabad West MLA seat in order to serve as an MP from Phulpur as a member of SP. In his place, his younger brother Khalid Azim contested the by-elections and lost to a BSP candidate, Raju Pal. In 2005, Raju Pal was shot dead and Khalid Azim was able to win the next by-elections and obtain the MLA seat.[16]

Ahmed was named and arrested as the main accused in this case but later received bail.[33] Ahmed was able to hold his power in the underworld even from inside the prison.[16]

After Mayawati gained power as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, she mounted pressure against him. He surrendered and was arrested in 2008.[16]

SHUATS assault case

On 14 December 2016, staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences were allegedly assaulted by Ahmed and his associates for taking action against two students who were barred from taking examinations after they were caught cheating. The video of Ahmed beating the SHUATS teacher and employees was widely circulated on the internet. Atiq claimed the students had been unfairly targeted. Ahmed was arrested the following day.[34] On 10 February 2017, the Allahabad High Court summoned the criminal history of Ahmed and also directed the Superintendent of Police of Allahabad to arrest all the accused in the case. The police arrested Ahmed on 11 February after which he was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.[35]

Umesh Pal abduction and murder

In 2009, Ahmed was convicted of the kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a key witness who testified against Ahmed in the Raju Pal murder case.[11] On 24 February 2023, Umesh Pal was killed during a shooting and bomb attack.[36] Ahmed was the main suspect accused in this murder case.[33][37][38][39] Ahmed's brother Ashraf, son Asad, and associate Guddu Muslim, a bomb maker who allegedly threw the bomb at Umesh Pal and has been involved in previous violent crimes, were the co-accused.[40]On 13 April 2023, Ahmed's son, Asad, was killed in an encounter in Jhansi by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF).[41][42]

Ahmed was shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Sabarmati Jail in Prayagraj in June 2019.[43]

Within two months of Pal's murder, six accused, including Ahmed, his brother and son were killed.[44]

Death

On 15 April 2023, while being escorted for a court-mandated medical checkup in the presence of police in Prayagraj, Ahmed was asked about his absence during his son's last rites, to which he replied, "I wasn't called, so I didn't go." Before Ahmed's brother Ashraf could complete his statement, "The main thing is that Guddu Muslim...",[45] a pistol was fired at Atiq Ahmed's head at point-blank range, resulting in his death. Ashraf Ahmed was also killed in the attack, which was captured and broadcast live on television. The brothers were surrounded by police personnel at the time of the shooting.[46][47]

The three perpetrators had posed as media personnel. They were surrounded by police personnel, following which they made a last attempt to escape, while chanting the slogan "Jai Shri Ram".[48] They were identified and arrested.[49] Reporting on the first information report from Uttar Pradesh Police, Times of India reported that "the accused told police they wanted to make a name for themselves and establish their identity in the state by eliminating Ahmed's gang."[50] A Supreme Court bench noted that despite the presence of 5-10 people guarding Ahmed and his brother, they were shot dead, and commented that "someone is complicit".[51]

See also

References

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  32. ^ "Member Profile". Lok Sabha. Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
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