On 15th April 2023, mafia Atiq Ahmed was killed in Prayagraj’s government hospital when he was being taken for a medical checkup. His brother Ashraf Ahmed was also killed. Both of them were accused and convicted in many cases. Atiq, who had instilled fear in the minds of people for decades, was killed by the attackers in front of both the police and the media. A bullet was fired into his head, after which several shots were fired at the brothers. Atiq and Ashraf died immediately.
Atiq had spread his terror for 44 years. At the age of 17, he was charged with murder. Apart from this, he was involved in extortion. Despite his dangerous history sheet, he got political patronage in the previous governments.
Guest House case
As a result of this political patronage, he was involved in attacking Mayawati in the 1995 guest house case incident. Mayawati has also mentioned him in this regard many times from various stages. She has said in the past that it was Atiq Ahmed who had conspired to kill her. It is said that if Mayawati was not accompanied by two junior police officers that day, the mob that entered the guest house could have done anything.
The ‘guest house scandal‘ took place on the 2nd of June 1995 in room number 1 of the state guest house situated on the Meerabai road of Lucknow, when some goons of the Samajwadi Party including a few elected representatives had assaulted BSP leader Mayawati for withdrawing support from the then SP-BSP joint state government of the Uttar Pradesh headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, founder, and president of Samajwadi Party. Mayawati was sworn in as the chief minister of the state the next day.
Raju Pal’s murder brought Atiq Ahmed into a trouble
Atiq’s political career began in 1989. He contested initially as an Independent, then sometimes from Samajwadi Party, and sometimes from Apna Dal. He became a five-time MLA from Allahabad West assembly and MP from Phulpur in 2004.
When the Allahabad MLA seat went vacant after Atiq Ahmed became an MP, he used his strength to get his brother Ashraf to contest the MLA seat. However, after Ashraf was defeated by Raju Pal, both the brothers became furious and within a few days MLA Raju Pal was murdered. Umesh Pal, who was killed by Atiq’s henchmen in February 2023, was a witness in the same case. On his testimony, a charge sheet was filed against all the accused including Atiq Ahmed.
BSP government started a crackdown against Atiq Ahmed as a revenge
Before the murder of MLA Raju Pal in 2005, Atiq Ahmed was named in the infamous guest house case in Lucknow. Atiq Ahmed was the main accused in the case. He was accused of plotting the guest house incident. After becoming CM, Mayawati did not forgive him for a long time. Whenever Mayawati’s government came to power, she took action against Atiq. Cracking down on the mafia, and taking action on his properties started during the BSP regime.
Yogi Adityanath finished the terror of this mafia
However, Atiq Ahmed’s terror was finished after 2017, when the Yogi Adityanath government came to power and appeared committed to a zero-tolerance policy towards the mafia. Atiq Ahmed has been behind bars continuously since 2019. In 2022, charges were framed against him in the Raju Pal murder case of 2005.
Atiq Ahmed’s family joined Bahujan Samaj Party
Meanwhile, Mayawati’s anger with Atiq Ahmed slowly faded away. The BSP chief herself came ahead and gave political patronage to Atiq’s family. On January 6, 2023, Atiq Ahmed’s family joined the BSP. It is said that on the instructions of Mayawati, Atiq’s family was associated with the BSP. Shortly after that, BSP’s former Rajya Sabha member Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar also made Shaista Parveen the mayoral candidate of BSP from Prayagraj.
The Ahmed clan has been reduced to ruins
Before Atiq’s family’s career flourished with the BSP, this family and Atiq’s gang carried out the Umesh Pal murder and then the Yogi Adityanath government started a campaign to demolish the mafia cartel. A few days after the murder, Atiq’s henchmen were killed. Atiq’s condition was also bad. He had started opening his terror connections in front of the police. He told the police how he used to procure weapons from D Company, he also had links with Lashkar-e-Taiba and ISI. But then Asad Ahmed was killed in an encounter and Atiq Ahmed broke down as soon as he heard the news.
After this, Atiq again showed arrogance and threatened the UP STF officials that he would show his power after getting released from jail. However, he was shot dead a day after the threat. This also finished off the 44-year-old terror that he started in 1979 in the greed of becoming rich.
His father was a tanga driver, but he wanted to become rich and powerful so much that he never thought about anything before involving in extortion or committing murders. Atiq had more than 101 cases registered against him. Among them, the Raju Pal murder and the guest house case were the most discussed. Atiq and Ashraf were not bloated by killing Rajupal, but today, due to this case Atiq Ahmed, his brother, son, and his henchmen all are dead. At the same time, the police are still investigating the reason behind the murder of this mafia.