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Bulldozer action continues in UP: Houses of Atiq ‘aides’ razed; Mukhtar’s building demolished
Officials arrived at the house of Mashooquddin and asked the residents to vacate the place. Officials claimed the house was constructed illegally, a charge the occupants denied
PRAYAGRAJ/VARANASI Resuming its demolition drive on Friday, the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) bulldozed a three-storey house of a man, Mohd Mashooquddin, allegedly linked to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, in Ahmadhpur village on Prayagraj-Kaushambi border on Friday evening.
Former MP Atiq, his wife Shaista Parveen, sons and brother Khalid Azeem, a former MLA, were named accused in the murder of advocate Umesh Pal, a prime witness in BSP MLA Raju Pal’s 2005 murder, in which Atiq and Ashraf were prime accused. An FIR was registered against 17 people for Umesh Pal’s murder on a complaint by his wife Jaya, police said.
On March 1, the PDA demolished the house of one Zafar Ahmad Khan in Chakia locality where Atiq’s absconding wife had allegedly been living on rent following the demolition of Atiq Ahmad’s own palatial house, also in Chakia that was demolished for having been “illegally constructed” in September 2020.
On March 2, the PDA had also razed a two-storey house of another alleged aide of Atiq - Safdar Ali, who owns a gun store in the Johnstonganj area, also in Chakia locality under Dhumanganj police station. Arbaaz, an alleged close aide of Atiq and an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an encounter with police on February 27.
On Friday evening, PDA officials arrived at the house of Mashooquddin, who reportedly has dozens of cases registered against him, along with bulldozers and other heavy equipment, and asked the residents to vacate the house. Officials claimed the house was constructed illegally, a charge the house occupants denied.
“This ancestral house was transferred in the name of my daughter Tauheed Fatima, who is daughter-in-law of Mohd Mashooquddin, by him sometime back. We took ₹35 lakh from banks and kin to reconstruct it. Sometime back, we received a notice and replied to it. Now, suddenly they have come to demolish it, which is unjust,” said Suhail Ahmad, father of Tauheed Fatima. He claimed that the family had no connection with former MP Atiq Ahmad.
When the PDA and police teams arrived to demolish the house, some family members refused to vacate the premises. However, officials snapped the power connection of the house and started clearing the premises. Later, police officials managed to convince the family members to leave the premises also.
PDA vice-chairman Arvind Kumar Chauhan maintained that the house was constructed in violation of norms.
“The house was constructed illegally in violation of set norms and was therefore demolished. The notice was also issued to the owner of the house as per norms. The laid down process has been followed,” he added.
The PDA pressed in three bulldozers and other heavy equipment to raze the structure in a few hours.
On February 24, lawyer Umesh Pal was killed outside his residence in Sulem Sarai area of Prayagraj. His two security guards were injured. One of them, Sandeep Nishad, died the same day later while the other security personnel, Raghvendra Singh, succumbed to his injuries at SGPGI, Lucknow, on Wednesday.
Action against shooter wanted in Raju Pal murder case
The house of Abdul Kavi, an absconding shooter allegedly linked to gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and wanted in 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, was partially demolished in Bhakhanda village of Kaushambi on Friday. A resident of Bhakhanda village, Kavi has been dodging the police and CBI for the past 18 years, said police.
A team of district administration and police officials raided the house in search of him and razed a portion of it. Half a dozen illegal country-made firearms were recovered from the house.
Heavy police force under ADM Jaichandra Pandey and ASP Samar Bahadur reached the village with JCB and other heavy equipment. The house was searched, but no one was found there. The demolition drive was completed in two hours in the presence of officials as locals locked themselves in their homes.
ASP Samar Bahadur remained tight-lipped over the demolition of the house. “Abdul Kavi was wanted in 2005 murder of MLA Raju Pal. His house was raided after a tip-off about the presence of some suspects. No one was found in the house. The police recovered six firearms from there along with some knives,” he said.
BSP MLA Raju Pal was gunned down in Dhumanganj area of Prayagraj on January 25, 2005. The CBI had filed a charge-sheet against 11 people, including former MP Atiq Ahmad, his brother and former MLA Khalid Azeem and Abdul Kavi.
Many individuals are in jail in connection with the 2005 murder, but Abdul Kavi remained untraceable even after all these years. However, after the murder of Raju Pal murder witness Umesh Pal, the police launched fresh efforts to trace and arrest Abdul Kavi.
Multi-storey building of Mukhtar Ansari and sons razed in Mau
Meanwhile, the district administration demolished a multi-storey building of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his sons Abbas and Umar Ansari, in Jahangirabad locality of UP’s Mau district, the police said in a statement.
Mukhtar and his two sons had constructed the building worth about ₹1 crore allegedly without getting the map passed and used the money earned through illegal means on it, said a senior official of the administration. Few months ago, the city magistrate had declared the structure illegal. Thereafter, the district administration passed the order to raze the building.
On Friday, on the instructions of district magistrate Arun Kumar, a joint team of police and revenue department officials headed by Abhay Kumar, Singh, circle officer, Madhuban, reached the locality and demolished the building. Singh confirmed the action.
“Built illegally by Mukhtar Ansari and his sons in a locality of Dakshintola, a multi-storey building was demolished in the presence of heavy police force,” the Mau police said in a statement.
