Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) : As a politician, he was remarkably successful having won a record number of five consecutive terms from the Allahabad West assembly constituency. But as a mafia don, he committed one crime after another that eventually led to his own demise and that of one of his sons and of his brother. This is the story of the rise and fall of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed.
Atiq entered politics in 1989 and became an MLA in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. He remained a legislator for over two and half decades and then entered the Parliament by winning from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency. A politician with such a winning record could not escape from his destiny that was written in blood for his gangster activities. Ultimately, Atiq's standoff with Umesh Pal proved to be his nemesis.
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A lawyer by profession, Umesh Pal was the prime witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case in which Atiq Ahmed was an accused. As the case turned irksome for his future career aspirations, Atiq tried to compromise with Umesh Pal and also forced him to withdraw his witness. As Umesh Pal remained adamant, Atiq had ordered his son Asad to eliminate the lawyer. Asad was by then the only son outside jail while the other two sons of Atiq were imprisoned for various crimes already. Atiq's brother Ashraf was also jailed at that time.
On February 24 this year, Atiq's son Asad along with some assassins shot dead Umesh Pal in broad daylight in Prayagraj, the video footage of which shocked the entire nation. Two policemen, who were providing security to Umesh Pal, also died in the shootout. Then a manhunt was launched by the UP Special Task Force (STF), which ended up killing Asad along with another gangster in an encounter in Jhansi on April 13.
Two days later, on April 15, when Asad's body was buried in Prayagraj during the day, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed by unidentified shooters in the night at around 10 pm. With this, the crime patriarch's family suffered a huge blow with three members already gone while two other sons of Atiq were still languishing in jail.
During his heyday, Atiq Ahmed struck terror and resorted to lots of crimes. He ended up facing over 100 criminal cases while his brother Ashraf had over 57, sources said. Atiq Ahmed was also accused of having links with Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence) and also terror organisations like Lashka e Taiba. The Atiq gang got weapons supplies from Pakistan via Punjab by drones and middlemen, police alleged. The UP Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) has also focused attention on the Atiq gang activities.
