STARTED WITH THE DEATH OF RAJU PAL AND ENDED WITH ATIQ AHMED – INDIAN POLITICS & CRIME
Murders everywhere! that too of gangsters! Uttar Pradesh – a state which was once called the Gangsters world, is now seeing the gangsters fall off like dried petals. Indian news channels got a recent visitor these days and it was Atiq Ahmed who was constantly in news for some other thing.
One day you hear him being in jail, the other day is his son being encountered, then, at last, news of him being shot to death, and in the middle of this – we hear the name, Umesh Pal – who is he? Confusing, isn’t it? Politics is a hard nut to crack and the involvement of gangsters, mafia and murder makes it interestingly confusing.
And so, after doing so much digging into all the websites and news channels, here we are with a brief of what happened – from how it started and what it is now!
Who is Atiq Ahmed?
Atiq Ahmed is a politician cum gangster from Uttar Pradesh. Atiq was born in 1962 in UP’s Shravasti. Atiq was born into a very poor family and always had the urge to be bigger and stronger. And that is what got him into the mafia world; the first case was registered on Atiq in 1979 and was reportedly involved in his first crime when he was just 15.
Lawfully or unlawfully, Atiq was successful as a successful political leader and gangster; Atiq also had a great family background with a wife, and 5 sons – Ali, Umar, Asad, Abaan, and Ahzaan. Atiq also used to be in a great relationship with his brother Azin Ahmed.
From Gangster to Politician and back!
Atiq was first a gangster before making his political debut and in fact, was the first Gangster of UP. Atiq stepped into the mafia in 1979 and started his political career in 1989. Atiq had numerous cases on him but was never convicted. Atiq had a history of 101 criminal records in the past 40 years.
The gangster was elected as MLA 5 times – twice for the Samajwadi party, twice independently, and once for Apna Dal. And was also elected as the MP from the Samajwadi Party for Phulpur from 2004 – 2009. And his downfall started in 2016.
Criminal Records!
In 2004 when Atiq was selected as the MP, he had to resign his MLA seat. So, Atiq who resigned from the seat, made his brother, Azim Ahmed compete for it. But Azim was defeated in the election by Raju Pal from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).
After this, Atiq felt like his power was challenged; and in 2005 Raju Pal was shot dead by a group of gangsters. Atiq was accused of Raju Pal’s murder and was asked to appear in court. Atiq was nearly caught when Umesh Pal who was the main witness of the crime agreed to testify and provide the necessary proof.
But later, in 2006, Umesh Pal appeared in court and stated that he was not there during the murder of Raju Pal and the case was held there. No advocate came forward to speak against Atiq.
In 2016, Atiq’s aids were accused of assaulting the employees of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Science, for taking action against students who were caught cheating. In this case, some videos of Atiq attacking someone were released and the court ordered to look into Atiq’s criminal records. Atiq was held in custody in 2017 and in 2018 he was sent out of the state of UP.
And again in 2023, the sudden murder of Umesh Pal brought the spotlight back onto Atiq. Umesh was killed on Feb 24, 2023, and Atiq and his brother, Ashraf were prime accused in the case. On March 28, 2023, Atiq was sentenced to life-long imprisonment in regard to Umesh Pal’s murder case.
The sudden deaths
Since the time Atiq was arrested, the rest of the people associated with the case were on a run and a search for them went on. On 13th March 2023, Atiq’s son Asad was killed in an encounter by the UP police.
While Atiq’s wife is absconding, Atiq and his brother were in jail during the time of their son’s sudden encounter. And on 15, April 2023, in Prayagraj, while Atiq and his brother were being taken to hospital for a medical check-up, right in front of the media and the police, Atiq and his brother were shot dead by 3 assassins.
And just like that the 40-year built strong empire of Don Atiq came crashing down. With these murders, Atiq’s family is nearly wiped out except for Atiq’s wife. A total of 6 people were killed in Umesh Pal’s murder case.
A gangster with nearly 100 criminal records is given an MP seat! How is this possible, what are your thoughts on this?