Atiq Ahmed (62), was a mafia turned-politician who entered the crime world in 1979 when he was accused of murder. He had a total of 100 criminal cases lodged against him.
The most recent case was registered with the Dhoomanganj police station, Prayagraj in connection with the murder of Umesh Pal, the main witness of the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal in 2005.
Gangster Atiq Ahmed was also the first person who was booked under the ‘Gangster Act’ in Uttar Pradesh.
According to the Uttar Pradesh police, Atiq Ahmed, had more than 160 criminal complaints filed against his family. Atiq has been named in 100 cases, compared to 52 instances against his brother Ashraf, three cases against his wife Shaista Praveen, and four and one cases each against his kids Ali and Umar Ahmed.
Atiq and his family’s assets worth Rs 11,684 crore have been seized.
According to reports, Atiq and his colleagues have lost Rs 1,200 crore annually as a result of the Yogi Government’s efforts to tighten the noose around the mafia.
The gangster turned-politician started his political journey in 1989 when he won the MLA seat from Allahabad West as an independent candidate.
Between 1999-2003, he was the president of the Apna Dal, founded by Sone Lal Patel. After retaining his seat in the next two Assembly elections independently, Atiq Ahmed joined the Samajwadi Party and won his fourth consecutive term in 1996. He won his seat again in 2002 from Apna Dal three years later.
From 2004–2009, Atiq Ahmed was elected as a Samajwadi Party MP for the 14th Lok Sabha from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh.
Atiq was named along with his brother Ashraf and seven unidentified people by Late BSP MLA Raju Pal’s wife in her FIR following Pal’s murder on January 25, 2005.
According to reports, the incident took place after Raju Pal defeated Atiq’s brother Ashraf in an Assembly by-poll held in 2005 for the Allahabad West seat. It was a big loss for the Ahmed family as the seat had fallen vacant after Gangster Atiq won the Lok Sabha seat from Allahabad in the 2004 general elections.
Raju Pal was shot dead on his way from a hospital near his house. He was returning along with his associates Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal.
As a result of extreme political pressure, Atiq Ahmed surrendered in 2008 only to be released in 2012.
In 2008 he was expelled from the Samajwadi Party, and Mayawati refused him a ticket under BSP. However, since he was yet not convicted in any of the cases.
In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the from the Shrawasti Lok Sabha constituency. He lost by nearly a lakh votes to Daddan Mishra of the BJP.
After this, SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav started distancing himself from Atiq because of his criminal record.
On December 14, 2016, Atique along with his henchmen assaulted the staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences. Reportedly, the staff had debarred two students from appearing in the examinations after they were caught cheating.
A video of Atiq Ahmed beating the SHUATS teacher and employees went viral and was widely circulated across social media.
On February 10, 2017, the Allahabad High Court summoned the criminal history of Atiq and also directed the SP Allahabad to arrest all the accused in the case.
Atiq was arrested by the police on February 11 after which he was remanded to 14-day judicial custody. In 2019, despite being imprisoned, Atiq Ahmed contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and could only get 855 votes.
On February 24, 2022, Umesh Pal, the prime witness in the Raju Pal murder, was attacked and killed along with his police guard who were shot dead in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj. The police registered an FIR against Atiq Ahmed, his wife Sahista Parveen, their two sons, his brother Ashraf, and others on February 25.
On April 13, Asad Ahmed, the son of gangster Atiq Ahmed, was slain in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force in Jhansi.
Asad and his associate Ghulam were both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case of Prayagraj. Each of them was carrying a reward of Rs. 5 lakhs. According to the authorities, foreign-made weapons were found in the accused’s possession.
On April 15, at around 11 PM, Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed was shot dead while being taken for medical in Prayagraj.
