UP’s Most Wanted: Shaista, Zainab likely to join list, reward for capture likely to be raised

UP Police ramp up efforts to capture fugitives linked to a major investment fraud after Rashid Naseem's arrest, targeting IS-227 gang members and their associates.

The UP Police have intensified their hunt for absconding criminals from Prayagraj after the arrest of fugitive economic offender Rashid Naseem in the UAE.

Shaista Parveen (HT File Photo)

Naseem, wanted in an ₹800–1,000 crore investment fraud case under ED investigation, was tracked down recently, prompting renewed pressure on agencies to trace four other fugitives already on the state’s Most Wanted list — Guddu Muslim, Arman, Nasir and Aftabh Alam.

Senior police sources say two more names are now likely to be forwarded for inclusion in the list: Shaista Parveen and Zainab Fatima, widows of slain gangster brothers Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf. Both are suspected to be in Dubai, allegedly operating financial channels used to revive the IS-227 gang through money originating from real estate investments in the UAE and other Gulf countries.

Over three years after the daylight murder of advocate Umesh Pal and his two police guards in Prayagraj in February 2023, the prime accused and key IS-227 operatives remain untraced. Pal was the main witness in the 2005 killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal.

Investigators now believe Shaista, carrying a reward of ₹50,000, may have quietly slipped to Dubai last year, with Zainab following her soon after.

The biggest development concerns the gang’s bomb expert, Guddu alias Muslim, or “Guddu Bambaz,” who reportedly escaped to Dubai using a forged passport. Immigration records show that a passenger named Syed Wasimuddin flew out of Kolkata on an Etihad flight on December 6, 2024, and the photograph on the passport closely resembles Guddu. UP Police had earlier issued lookout notices for Guddu, Shaista, Armaan and others to prevent them from leaving the country.

According to officials familiar with the probe, the suspected involvement of Shaista, Zainab and Guddu in managing overseas funds came to light during the interrogation of Atiq’s jailed lawyer, Khan Saulat Hanif, who disclosed the mafia don’s property and business interests in Dubai and the Middle East.

Citing intelligence inputs indicating attempts to revive the IS‑227 network, the state government recently shifted Shaista’s son Ali Ahmed overnight from Naini Central Jail to Jhansi Jail on October 1, 2025.

The main accused in the Umesh Pal murder — Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Armaan — continue to carry rewards of ₹5 lakh each and remain on the run.

Police records show the IS‑227 gang still has 121 active members with cases under severe sections, besides 74 associates and sympathisers. Some are believed to be white‑collar businessmen in Prayagraj who had received significant investments from Atiq in their real‑estate ventures.

Meanwhile, three women linked to the gang — Shaista Parveen, Zainab alias Ruby, and Atiq’s sister Ayesha Noori — have evaded arrest for three consecutive years. Shaista carries a bounty of ₹50,000, while Zainab and Ayesha carry ₹25,000 each.

A proposal, informed senior official sources, is being prepared to raise Shaista’s reward to ₹5 lakh and those of Zainab and Ayesha to ₹2 lakh each, along with a recommendation to include their names in the state’s Most Wanted list.

Vidyut Goyal, ACP, Civil Lines, supervising the Umesh Pal investigation, said the UP Police follows a structured SOP for listing notorious criminals, beginning at the police station level and escalating up to the state government when inclusion in the Most Wanted list is deemed necessary. He added that all efforts are underway to trace the remaining fugitives, including Guddu Muslim, Sabir, Armaan, Shaista Parveen, Zainab Fatima and Ayesha Noori.