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Atiq Ahmad's journey from gangster to parliamentarian: A tale of UP's don
Gangster Atiq Ahmad and his brother shot dead in UP's Prayagraj. Here we chalk down the don's history.
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad along with his brother Ashraf was killed on Saturday in UP's Prayagraj when they were being taken for medical check-up that was mandated by a court while allowing police remand for five days. Here, we look into the story of the making of UP's notorious criminal, his political clout, his subsequent election as a member of parliament, and eventually the tale of his downfall.
Atiq's personal life
Atiq Ahmad was born in UP's Shravasti in 1962. He was married to Shaista Praveen, who is currently absconding. Atiq and Shaista had five sons – Ali, Umar, Ahmad, Asad, Ahzaan, and Abaan. Asad was killed in an alleged encounter with UP police on Friday in Jhansi.
Atiq’s brother Khalid Azim, alias Ashraf, was also a former MLA.
Atiq Ahmad's political journey
Atiq Ahmad was a five-time member of UP's legislative assembly and former member of parliament.
His political career began in 1989 when he was elected as an independent candidate to the Allahabad, now Prayagraj, (West) MLA seat. He retained his seat in the next two legislative Assembly elections, and in 1996, the mafioso-politician won his fourth consecutive term, this time on the Samajwadi party's ticket.
Three years later, he left SP to become president of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi). He went on to win the seat in the 2002 assembly election.
But the next year, he returned to SP. He was elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from Phulpur in UP from 2004 to 2009. Phulpur seat was once held by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Atiq's criminal records
In the last four decades, 101 criminal occurrences involving Atiq have been reported in the state. According to police records, the first murder case against him was filed in 1979.
He was involved in a number of crimes, including murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, fraud, threats, and land grabs.
Atiq was also accused in the 2005 killing of BSP MLA Raju Pal. The incident occurred when the BSP lawmaker challenged Atiq’s influence and won the election against his brother Khalid Azeem. He was gunned down just three months after defeating Atiq's younger brother from Allahabad (West) assembly seat.
The gangster-turned-politician was also accused of kidnapping Umesh Pal, the main witness to Raju Pal's murder, and forcing him to write a statement claiming that he was not there when Raju Pal was killed and that he did not want to testify. He was awarded life imprisonment for the 2006 abduction.
The initial indications of his impending downfall came in 2016 when his aides were accused of assaulting college employees in Prayagraj for taking action against students who were detected cheating on an exam. The next year, he was detained and moved out of the state in 2018.
