Prayagraj: Having stepped into the world of crime in 1979 after being accused in a murder, the Tuesday conviction and sentencing in the 17-year-old Umesh Pal abduction case is a first for the feared mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed in a career spanning 44 years. Not only crime, but the don and his family dabbled in the field of politics with equal aplomb.
Giving this information to TOI, additional DG (Prayagraj zone) Bhanu Bhaskar said, “Atiq had a total of 101 criminal cases registered against him, including the latest one lodged with the Dhoomanganj police station in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, the main witness of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and two of his police gunners on February 24.”
“While 96 cases are registered in different police stations of Prayagraj district, five are registered in Krishna Nagar (Lucknow), Pipri (Kaushambi), Bargarh (Chitrakoot), Hazratganj (Lucknow) and Barmo ( Bokaro, Jharkhand),” the ADG said.
Data available with the UP police reveals that of the 101 FIRs lodged against Atiq, 54 cases are under trial at various courts in the state. Moreover, in the ongoing drive against gangsters under the Yogi Adityanath government, property worth over Rs 160 crore belonging to Atiq and his family members has 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.
Not only Atiq, his younger brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf has a total 51 FIRs registered against him in different police stations of the state. Moreover, Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen has also been named in four FIRs, including Dhoomanganj shootout incident in which Umesh Pal and his two police gunners were killed in Prayagraj. The first criminal case was filed against Shaista Parveen with Colonelganj police four years back.
Police officers said that Atiq started off as the only member of the family to make it to the police records, but soon others in the family came under the police scanner.
Atiq became active in politics in 1989 and made his debut in representative politics in the same year, winning the Allahabad West assembly seat as an Independent. Later, he retained the Allahabad West seat twice — 1991 and 1993 — as an Independent candidate. However, in 1996, he contested on the same seat as SP candidate and won. After the SP showed him 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 AD ticket. In 2003, Atiq returned to the SP fold and in 2004, won from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Atiq came to limelight in January 2005, when BSP MLA Raju Pal was shot dead in broad daylight in Prayagraj, following which a by-election was held in 2005 and Ashraf won the election defeating BSP candidate Puja Pal, the widow of Raju Pal. In the 2007 elections, Ashraf again contested the assembly polls from SP but lost to Puja Pal of BSP. Ashraf was accused in 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 SP ticket but lost. But Atiq’s political ambitions were not over. From jail, he filed nomination from the Varanasi constituency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 but managed to get only 855 votes.
Named as the kingpin of interstate gang no. 227, 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 Dhoomanganj shootout incident and carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, Shaista is still elusive.
Giving this information to TOI, additional DG (Prayagraj zone) Bhanu Bhaskar said, “Atiq had a total of 101 criminal cases registered against him, including the latest one lodged with the Dhoomanganj police station in connection with the killing of Umesh Pal, the main witness of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005 and two of his police gunners on February 24.”
“While 96 cases are registered in different police stations of Prayagraj district, five are registered in Krishna Nagar (Lucknow), Pipri (Kaushambi), Bargarh (Chitrakoot), Hazratganj (Lucknow) and Barmo ( Bokaro, Jharkhand),” the ADG said.
Data available with the UP police reveals that of the 101 FIRs lodged against Atiq, 54 cases are under trial at various courts in the state. Moreover, in the ongoing drive against gangsters under the Yogi Adityanath government, property worth over Rs 160 crore belonging to Atiq and his family members has 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.
Not only Atiq, his younger brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf has a total 51 FIRs registered against him in different police stations of the state. Moreover, Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen has also been named in four FIRs, including Dhoomanganj shootout incident in which Umesh Pal and his two police gunners were killed in Prayagraj. The first criminal case was filed against Shaista Parveen with Colonelganj police four years back.
Police officers said that Atiq started off as the only member of the family to make it to the police records, but soon others in the family came under the police scanner.
Atiq became active in politics in 1989 and made his debut in representative politics in the same year, winning the Allahabad West assembly seat as an Independent. Later, he retained the Allahabad West seat twice — 1991 and 1993 — as an Independent candidate. However, in 1996, he contested on the same seat as SP candidate and won. After the SP showed him 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 AD ticket. In 2003, Atiq returned to the SP fold and in 2004, won from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Atiq came to limelight in January 2005, when BSP MLA Raju Pal was shot dead in broad daylight in Prayagraj, following which a by-election was held in 2005 and Ashraf won the election defeating BSP candidate Puja Pal, the widow of Raju Pal. In the 2007 elections, Ashraf again contested the assembly polls from SP but lost to Puja Pal of BSP. Ashraf was accused in 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 SP ticket but lost. But Atiq’s political ambitions were not over. From jail, he filed nomination from the Varanasi constituency against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 but managed to get only 855 votes.
Named as the kingpin of interstate gang no. 227, 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 Dhoomanganj shootout incident and carries a cash reward of Rs 25,000, Shaista is still elusive.