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Tale of 8 most wanted women gangsters & fraudsters in U.P.
UP DGP Vijaya Kumar had said that the state police are equally serious about the arrest of Shaishta Parveen and other woman accused wanted in different cases.
LUCKNOW While the criminal world is male dominated, women gangsters and fraudsters have also been giving sleepless nights to cops in Uttar Pradesh.
Recently, the presence of a ‘mystery’ woman with Atiq Ahmad’s lawyer Vijay Mishra, who was picked up by the police from Lucknow on Saturday, has triggered a barrage of speculations. While the woman managed to give a slip to the police, it is believed that she is associated with Atiq Ahmad’s family.
For months, police have been looking for several such elusive women criminals even as they continue to dodge the law with their tricks. According to the U.P. Police website, Deepti Bahl is on the top of the most wanted woman gangster and fraudsters list of Uttar Pradesh.
A cash reward of ₹5 lakh has been announced by the state government on her arrest. Deepti Bahl, who is one of the prime accused in Bike Bot scam worth ₹15,000 crore, is the wife of the scam mastermind Sanjay Bhati. She has remained elusive for the past four years since May 2019. In contrast, her husband was held in June 2019. Several other accused in the matter have also been held in the past four years, said a senior police official.
The website suggests that she is the lone woman in seven most wanted people carrying reward of ₹5 lakh on their heads. This list also includes another accused of Bike Bot scam Bhudev Singh, Meerut’s dreaded gangster Badan Singh (alias Baddo), Atiq Ahmad’s three close aides Guddu Muslim, Mohd Sabir, and Arman, who allegedly were involved in the sensational killing of Umesh Pal, and another high-profile fraudster Rashid Naseem, who is wanted in the Shine Group scam of over ₹1,000 crore where investors were duped of money through Ponzi schemes.
A senior police official said that the second among the list is mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Aafsha Ansari, who carries a reward of ₹75,000 on her head. She has nine criminal cases pending against her. Aafsha has been elusive since 2022 after securing a conditional stay on her arrest from a court, the official added.
“Another woman gangster in the list is the much talked about Shaishta Parveen, the wife of slain don Atiq Ahmad. She has been on the loose since her name surfaced in the criminal conspiracy of Umesh Pal’s murder in March earlier this year. She even did not turn up when her third eldest son Asad, who allegedly led the team of assailants in Umesh Pal’s murder, was gunned down in police encounter on April 13 or when her husband Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were murdered by three assailants in police custody in presence of several media persons outside a Prayagraj hospital on April 15,” the official pointed while adding, “She carries a reward of ₹50,000 on her arrest”.
The cop further said that five other wanted women accused in the U.P. Police list are -- Ashraf’s wife Zainab, who allegedly escaped during the recent raid at the Lucknow hotel from where Atiq’s lawyer was arrest on Saturday last, Atiq’s elder sister Aisha Noorie and her two daughters Unzela and Mantasha, and another slain gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari’s (alias Jeeva) wife Payal Maheshwari. They don’t carry any reward so far but are among the list of most wanted accused, he added.
The official said that Zainab, Ayesh Noorie and her two daughters are allegedly involved in patronising and helping the assailants involved in Umesh Pal murder case. Meanwhile, Payal Maheshwari is wanted in a case of U.P. Gangsters Act in Muzaffarnagar. In April, police sealed a commercial complex in Muzaffarnagar in the name of Jeeva’s wife under provisions of Gangsters Act.
While interacting to media persons earlier on July 12, UP DGP Vijaya Kumar had said that the state police are equally serious about the arrest of Shaishta Parveen and other woman accused wanted in different cases.
Recent Arrest
One of the most wanted women, Neelam Verma, the director of Hello Ride, a bike taxi company operating from Lucknow, was arrested by U.P. STF in Lucknow on Saturday. She is allegedly involved in a fraud of over ₹100 crore. She had been elusive since 2019. Verma is wanted in 23 criminal cases registered in Lucknow. She carried a reward of ₹25,000 on her head.
