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Atique Ahmed, a gangster turned politician now become VIP in jail

This news questioned the credibility of Aaj Tak's journalism, and at the same time, it brought the gangster turned politician into the limelight.

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Image: PTI

Mainstream media went bizarre when Atique Ahmed was shifted from one jail to another. In the race to broadcast the breaking news, some TV channels showed him taking a break to urinate live on their channels. Several clips from Aaj Tak’s live reporting of the “event” went viral on social media platforms. Though the particular segment has been removed from the report on Aaj Tak’s YouTube channel, the clips are already viral and are making the rounds on social media. This news questioned the credibility of Aaj Tak’s journalism, and at the same time, it brought the gangster turned politician into the limelight.

After passing through different states, Atique Ahmed’s cavalcade entered Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning and stopped at Jhansi police lines. The convoy is being followed by media teams, Ahmed’s sister, and lawyers. Earlier this month, Atique Ahmed moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family had been falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj and that he may be killed in a fake encounter by the UP Police. The Uttar Pradesh police chose a road route that passes through Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri and Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi to bring back the gangster. Gangster Atique Ahmed and two others were held guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment by a local court in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case. Atique Ahmed was brought to court from a jail in Gujarat in a police van and produced in court amid tight security.

Earlier, Atique Ahmed’s car almost overturned after hitting a cow on the road. Sadly, the cow died in the accident. Before getting onto the van for the journey, Ahmed expressed his fear that he would be killed by the UP police team. “Hatya, hatya (murder, murder)… Mujhe inka program maloom hai.” Hatya karna chahte hain (I know their program)… “They want to murder me,” he was heard saying.

Atique Ahmed a dreaded gangster turned politician is a former member of Indian Parliament and Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from Samajwadi Party. He was elected as a member of the legislative assembly from the Allahabad West seat for 5 consecutive terms, which is a record. From 2004–2009, he was elected as a Samajwadi Party candidate for the 14th Lok Sabha from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. Between 1999 and 2003, he was the president of the Apna Dal, founded by Sone Lal Patel. He has more than 100 criminal cases registered against him and has been in jail since 2019. Ahmed has fought several elections from jail while being lodged under various charges. In the 2009 General Elections, Atique Ahmad was allowed to run for election (since he had yet to be convicted in any case. However, the Samajwadi Party expelled him in 2008, and Mayawati refused to give him a ticket under the BSP. Later, he ran in elections as a candidate from the Apna Dal party from Pratapgarh, only to lose the election.

In the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections, Ahmed ran under the Apna Dal banner from the Allahabad (West) constituency. He filed his nomination from jail. He appealed for bail in the Allahabad High Court, but 10 judges refused to hear the case. The 11th judge finally took up the matter, and he was released on bail before the elections. However, the seat went to Raju Pal’s widow, Puja Pal. In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the National Elections from the Shrawasti (Lok Sabha constituency). He managed to secure a quarter of the votes but lost by nearly a lakh votes to Daddan Mishra of the BJP.

Atique Ahmed was shifted to Bareilly jail after being accused of kidnapping and assaulting businessman Mohit Jaiswal in Deoria jail. Mohit told the media that Atique Ahmed’s gang was asking him to pay extortion money. He was taken to the Deoria jail later for not paying the extortion money. Mohit was beaten up by the jail police guards and other goons. After the news was spread, the Uttar Pradesh government shifted Atique to Bareilly Jail and suspended the accused jail guards immediately. A recording of a phone call was also released, in which Atique threatened Mohit to pay extortion money or else he would be attacked.

Two other businessmen also accused Ahmed of kidnapping and assaulting them in Deoria Jail.  Ahmed was shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad in June 2019. On February 24, 2023, Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal, was killed. Ahmed is the main accused in the Raju Pal and Umesh Pal murder case. Overnight he came to limelight when Uttar Pradesh Police went to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad to bring him back to Prayagraj. Atique Ahmed was shifted to Sabarmati jail following a Supreme Court order in 2019 after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman, Mohit Jaiswal, while in prison in UP.
Atique, along with his gangster brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, who was brought from a Bareilly jail, and another co-accused, Farhan, were kept in separate barracks of the jail. Atique’s first night in the Prayagraj jail kept officials on their toes as they were tasked with ensuring safety and security.

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Vaidehi Taman
Vaidehi Tamanhttps://authorvaidehi.com
Vaidehi Taman an Accredited Journalist from Maharashtra is bestowed with three Honourary Doctorate in Journalism. Vaidehi has been an active journalist for the past 21 years, and is also the founding editor of an English daily tabloid – Afternoon Voice, a Marathi web portal – Mumbai Manoos, and The Democracy digital video news portal is her brain child. Vaidehi has three books in her name, "Sikhism vs Sickism", "Life Beyond Complications" and "Vedanti". She is an EC Council Certified Ethical Hacker, OSCP offensive securities, Certified Security Analyst and Licensed Penetration Tester that caters to her freelance jobs.
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