PRAYAGRAJ/LUCKNOW: Atiq Ahmed‘s story is intertwined with the rise of criminals in Uttar Pradesh’s politics. He was one of the accused booked by Lucknow’s Hazratganj police in 1995, in connection with the infamous guesthouse case. It involved the attack on the then CM Mayawati, who was staying at the Mirabai Marg state guesthouse.
According to the FIR lodged then, the MLAs and workers of the Samajwadi Party surrounded the guesthouse and went on a rampage, angry over the BSP having broken ties with the SP and seeking out the BJP to form the government. Mayawati had to lock herself in a room while several of her MLAs were “captured”, and later claimed to have defected to the SP.
In a career spanning over 44 years, Atiq, a five-time ex-MLA and one-term former MP, now faces 101 criminal cases, 54 of them under trial in different parts of the state.
Atiq’s tryst with crime had begun much earlier – at least a decade before he entered politics.
His first run-in with the law was in 1979 when he was booked for murder in Prayagraj’s Khuldabad police station on November 10, 1979. He was booked in another murder case in 1984.
Five years later, in 1989, Atiq’s terror spread after he was accused of murdering then corporator Chand Baba and won his first election as an MLA from Allahabad West, as an Independent. After he retained his seat in the next two assembly elections as an Independent, the Samajwadi Party opened its doors to him.
In 1996, Atiq won from Allahabad West the fourth time, as an SP candidate.
After the SP showed Atiq the door in 1998, he joined the Apna Dal (AD) in 1999 and contested from Pratapgrah but lost. He again won the Allahabad West seat in 2002 assembly elections on the AD ticket. In 2003, Atiq returned to the SP fold, and in 2004, won the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Along with his political clout, his reign of terror also kept growing in the region.
In 2004, in the bypoll held for the Allahabad West seat, after Atiq had moved to the Lok Sabha, BSP candidate Raju Pal defeated his brother Ashraf, fighting on an SP ticket.
In January 2005, Raju Pal was gunned down, along with two of his associates, and Atiq was named as an accused along with Ashraf and others. Ashraf now has 53 cases against him. On the Supreme Court’s orders, the case was transferred to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet in 2019 against 10 people.
Following Raju Pal’s murder, a by-election was held for the Allahabad West seat in 2005 where Ashraf defeated BSP candidate Puja Pal, the widow of Raju Pal. In the 2007 elections, Ashraf again contested the assembly polls on an SP ticket but lost to Puja Pal of BSP. Ashraf was an accused in the Raju Pal murder.
Five years later, in 2012 assembly elections, Atiq again tried his luck from Apna Dal from the same seat but lost to BSP’s Puja Pal (widow of Raju Pal) by a margin of 8,885 votes. He also contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Shravasti on the SP ticket but lost.
Even in face of repeated defeats, Atiq’s political ambitions were far from over. He filed nomination from the Varanasi constituency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 from jail where he had been since 2017 but managed to get only 855 votes.
Named as the kingpin of interstate gang no. 227 (in police files), he was shifted from Bareilly in 2019 to an Ahmedabad jail on the orders of the Supreme Court.
In January this year, Atiq’s wife Shaista joined the BSP in presence of senior party leaders and even announced to contest urban civic polls. However, since she was named in the murder of Umesh Pal and carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, Shaista is still elusive.
In the ongoing drive against gangsters under the Yogi Adityanath government, properties worth over Rs 1,186 crore belonging to Atiq and his family members have been attached under the Gangsters’ Act. Once wielding total control over real estate dealings in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Noida, Lucknow and other parts of the country, Atiq and his family are now at the receiving end of the law of the land.
According to the FIR lodged then, the MLAs and workers of the Samajwadi Party surrounded the guesthouse and went on a rampage, angry over the BSP having broken ties with the SP and seeking out the BJP to form the government. Mayawati had to lock herself in a room while several of her MLAs were “captured”, and later claimed to have defected to the SP.
In a career spanning over 44 years, Atiq, a five-time ex-MLA and one-term former MP, now faces 101 criminal cases, 54 of them under trial in different parts of the state.
Atiq’s tryst with crime had begun much earlier – at least a decade before he entered politics.
His first run-in with the law was in 1979 when he was booked for murder in Prayagraj’s Khuldabad police station on November 10, 1979. He was booked in another murder case in 1984.
Five years later, in 1989, Atiq’s terror spread after he was accused of murdering then corporator Chand Baba and won his first election as an MLA from Allahabad West, as an Independent. After he retained his seat in the next two assembly elections as an Independent, the Samajwadi Party opened its doors to him.
In 1996, Atiq won from Allahabad West the fourth time, as an SP candidate.
After the SP showed Atiq the door in 1998, he joined the Apna Dal (AD) in 1999 and contested from Pratapgrah but lost. He again won the Allahabad West seat in 2002 assembly elections on the AD ticket. In 2003, Atiq returned to the SP fold, and in 2004, won the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Along with his political clout, his reign of terror also kept growing in the region.
In 2004, in the bypoll held for the Allahabad West seat, after Atiq had moved to the Lok Sabha, BSP candidate Raju Pal defeated his brother Ashraf, fighting on an SP ticket.
In January 2005, Raju Pal was gunned down, along with two of his associates, and Atiq was named as an accused along with Ashraf and others. Ashraf now has 53 cases against him. On the Supreme Court’s orders, the case was transferred to the CBI, which filed a chargesheet in 2019 against 10 people.
Following Raju Pal’s murder, a by-election was held for the Allahabad West seat in 2005 where Ashraf defeated BSP candidate Puja Pal, the widow of Raju Pal. In the 2007 elections, Ashraf again contested the assembly polls on an SP ticket but lost to Puja Pal of BSP. Ashraf was an accused in the Raju Pal murder.
Five years later, in 2012 assembly elections, Atiq again tried his luck from Apna Dal from the same seat but lost to BSP’s Puja Pal (widow of Raju Pal) by a margin of 8,885 votes. He also contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Shravasti on the SP ticket but lost.
Even in face of repeated defeats, Atiq’s political ambitions were far from over. He filed nomination from the Varanasi constituency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 from jail where he had been since 2017 but managed to get only 855 votes.
Named as the kingpin of interstate gang no. 227 (in police files), he was shifted from Bareilly in 2019 to an Ahmedabad jail on the orders of the Supreme Court.
In January this year, Atiq’s wife Shaista joined the BSP in presence of senior party leaders and even announced to contest urban civic polls. However, since she was named in the murder of Umesh Pal and carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, Shaista is still elusive.
In the ongoing drive against gangsters under the Yogi Adityanath government, properties worth over Rs 1,186 crore belonging to Atiq and his family members have been attached under the Gangsters’ Act. Once wielding total control over real estate dealings in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Noida, Lucknow and other parts of the country, Atiq and his family are now at the receiving end of the law of the land.