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Ashraf’s wife bossed gang, ran extortion racket when he was in jail: Police
During a search of Zainab’s house on Sunday, police found around 500 ‘slips’ signed by her, DCP (city) said.
Zainab Fatima, the wife of slain gangster-politician Khalid Azeem (Ashraf), was running an extortion racket on behalf of her husband when he was in prison, Prayagraj police has said. Now on the run, Zainab not only managed Ashraf’s men, but also kept an account of the gang’s earnings through extortion and illegal real estate business with the help of her brother Saddam, they added.
During a search of Zainab’s house on Sunday, police found around 500 ‘slips’ signed by her. “The slips are proof of money given by people to Zainab and also indicate that she has received amounts worth several crores of rupees in the last few years,” they added.
The slips were sent to Ashraf, who was lodged at Bareilly jail at the time, as proof and confirmation that the amounts had been paid by the persons’ concerned. Ashraf only trusted the slips that were signed by Zainab, police officials, who were investigating how such a large number of slips made their way back to Zainab’s house from the jail, said.
Deputy commissioner of police (city) Deepak Bhuker said, “Police have found around 500 such slips. The maximum amount received mentioned in one slip is ₹78 lakh... We will now identify the people whose names are mentioned on the slips, and if the amounts were given as extortion money or if these persons were Ashraf’s business partners and were sharing profits. The recovery of slips indicate that Zainab was actively involved in her husband’s illegal activities and was dealing with gang members on her husband’s behalf.”
Meanwhile, police also attached Zainab’s house at Hatwa, where they conducted a search, and have reportedly found a safe. The safe had documents and flash drives, which were being scanned thoroughly, officials added.
Ashraf and his gangster brother Atiq Ahmed were shot dead in police custody by assailants earlier this year.
