Atiq Ahmed (10 August 1962 – 15 April 2023) was a notorious Indian gangster turned politician and history-sheeter. He served as a member of the

Indian Parliament The Parliament of India (ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of the Republic of India. It is a bicameral legislature composed of the Rajya Sabha (Council of States) and the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The President o ...

and the

Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, also known as Uttar Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Indian state Uttar Pradesh. There are 403 seats in the house. Member of the Legislative Assembl ...

from the

Samajwadi Party The Samajwadi Party ( SP; ) is a Socialism, socialist political party in India. It was founded on 4 October 1992 by former Janata Dal politician Mulayam Singh Yadav and is headquartered in New Delhi. It is the third-largest political party in ...

. Ahmed had more than 160 criminal cases registered against him and competed in several elections from jail. As of March 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Police had seized properties worth belonging to Ahmed and his family. In 2019, he was convicted of kidnapping a witness who testified against him regarding the 2005 murder of his political rival Raju Pal. Ahmed remained in jail until his assassination by three gunmen on his way to a court-mandated medical checkup on 15 April 2023.

Early and personal life

Atiq Ahmed was born in 1962 to a poor family. His father was a horse-cart driver in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. Ahmed was married to Shaista Parveen. The couple had five sons Umar (1998), Ali (2002), Asad (2003–2023), Ahzam (2005) and Abaan (2008). Ahmed's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf was also an ex-MLA from the

Political career

Entry into politics

Ahmed entered politics in 1989 when he won a MLA seat in Allahabad West as an independent candidate. He retained his seat in the

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

and 1993 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, and then won the seat in 1996 as a Samajwadi Party (SP) member.

As a member of Lok Sabha

In 1999, he left the SP and became the president of Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), winning the Allahabad West seat in 2002. He rejoined the SP in 2003. In 2004, Ahmed was elected as the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament for Phulpur, after which he resigned from his MLA seat in

. In 2007, he was expelled from SP after he provided protection to men with allegations of rape in a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

and the massive outcry caused by the event.'''' In the 2009 Indian general elections, Atiq Ahmed was allowed to run for election, since he was yet to be convicted in any criminal case. However, the

expelled him in the year 2008 and Mayawati refused him a ticket under

Bahujan Samaj Party The Bahujan Samaj Party ( BSP) is a political party in India that was formed to represent Bahujans (literally means "community in majority"), referring to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBC), along with Religious ...

(BSP). Later, he contested elections as a candidate for the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) party in Pratapgarh, only to lose the election.

Participation from prison

Ahmed contested the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections under the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) banner for the Allahabad (West) constituency. He filed his nomination from jail. He appealed for bail in the

Allahabad High Court Allahabad High Court, officially known as High Court of Judicature at Allahabad, is the high court based in the city of Prayagraj, formerly known as Allahabad, that has jurisdiction over the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established o ...

, but ten judges recused themselves from hearing his case. ''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

'' and ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' reported that the judges' refusals were due to Ahmed's "terror". The eleventh judge released him on bail before the elections, but the election was won by Raju Pal's widow, Puja Pal. In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the national elections for the Shrawasti constituency. He secured a quarter of the votes but lost by more than 85,000 votes to Daddan Mishra of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). In 2019, Ahmed contested against

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

from

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

constituency as an independent candidate and secured 833 votes.

Electoral history

Ahmed has been elected as 5 times MLA and 1 time

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

MP.

Criminal cases

Introduction to crime

Ahmed entered the world of crime by stealing coal from trains and selling it for profit. This later transformed into threatening contractors for obtaining government tenders for railway scrap metal. His first criminal record was in 1979, when he was accused of murder in

Prayagraj Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. He also became the first person to be booked under the Goonda Act in

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

. In his early days, Ahmed worked closely with other notorious members of the criminal organization in Allahabad namely ''Chand Baba.'' After the encounter of his biggest competitor ''Shaukat Ilahi'' in 1990, Ahmed became very powerful and became known for

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

.''''

Raju Pal murder

In 2004, Atiq Ahmed vacated the

West MLA seat in order to serve as an MP from Phulpur as a member of SP. In his place, his younger brother Khalid Azim contested the by-elections and lost to a BSP candidate, Raju Pal. In 2005, Raju Pal was shot dead and Khalid Azim was able to win the next by-elections and obtain the MLA seat.'''' Ahmed was named and arrested as the main accused in this case but later received bail.'''' Ahmed was able to hold his power in the underworld even from inside the prison.'''' After Mayawati gained power as the

Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh The chief minister of Uttar Pradesh is the head of the Government of Uttar Pradesh. As per the Constitution of India, the Governor (India), governor is the state's ''de jure'' head, but ''de facto'' executive authority rests with the chief minis ...

, she mounted pressure against him. He surrendered and was arrested in 2008.''''

SHUATS assault case

On 14 December 2016, staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences were allegedly assaulted by Ahmed and his associates for taking action against two students who were barred from taking examinations after they were caught cheating. The video of Ahmed beating the SHUATS teacher and employees was widely circulated on the internet. Atiq claimed the students had been unfairly targeted. Ahmed was arrested the following day. On 10 February 2017, the

summoned the criminal history of Ahmed and also directed the

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territori ...

of Allahabad to arrest all the accused in the case. The police arrested Ahmed on 11 February after which he was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.

Umesh Pal abduction and murder

In 2009, Ahmed was convicted of the kidnapping of Umesh Pal, a key witness who testified against Ahmed in the Raju Pal murder case. On 24 February 2023, Umesh Pal was killed during a shooting and bomb attack. Ahmed was the main suspect accused in this murder case. Ahmed's brother Ashraf, son Asad, and associate Guddu Muslim, a bomb maker who allegedly threw the bomb at Umesh Pal and has been involved in previous violent crimes, were the co-accused. On 13 April 2023, Ahmed's son, Asad, was killed in an encounter in

Jhansi Jhansi ( ) is a historic city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. (Toshan) Balwant Nagar was the old name of Jhansi. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand, on the banks of the Pahuj River, in the extreme ...

by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF). Ahmed was shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Sabarmati Jail in

in June 2019. Within two months of Pal's murder, six accused, including Ahmed, his brother and son were killed.

Death

On 15 April 2023, while being escorted for a court-mandated medical checkup in the presence of police in

, Ahmed was asked about his absence during his son's last rites, to which he replied, "I wasn't called, so I didn't go." Before Ahmed's brother Ashraf could complete his statement, "The main thing is that Guddu Muslim...", a pistol was fired at Atiq Ahmed's head at point-blank range, and he died on the spot. Ashraf Ahmed was also killed in the attack, which was captured and broadcast live on television. The brothers were surrounded by police personnel at the time of the shooting. The three perpetrators had posed as media personnel. They were surrounded by police personnel, following which they made a last attempt to escape, while chanting the slogan "Jai Shri Ram". They were identified and arrested. Reporting on the first information report from Uttar Pradesh Police, ''

Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' reported that "the accused told police they wanted to make a name for themselves and establish their identity in the state by eliminating Ahmed's gang." A

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

bench noted that despite the presence of 5-10 people guarding Ahmed and his brother, they were shot dead, and commented that "someone is complicit".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed, Atiq 1962 births 2023 deaths 21st-century Indian Muslims All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen politicians Apna Dal politicians Criminals from Uttar Pradesh Deaths by firearm in India Filmed killings in Asia India MPs 2004–2009 Lok Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Politicians from Prayagraj Samajwadi Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh MLAs 2002–2007 Indian politicians convicted of crimes Indian politicians assassinated in the 21st century Politicians assassinated in 2023 Independent politicians in India Filmed assassinations