A local court in Prayagraj has pronounced mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf guilty in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case.
Prayagraj MP-MLA Court pronounces mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf guilty in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case; argument in the court continues. pic.twitter.com/5fFlV9Wxvj
— ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2023
On Monday, Atiq Ahmed, a former gangster-turned-politician, was transferred to the Naini Central Jail in Prayagraj. He was produced before the court on Tuesday for the verdict in the 2007 kidnapping case of Umesh Pal, a crucial witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder, in which Ahmed is also a prime suspect.
Family of Umesh Pal demands the death penalty for Atiq Ahmed
Family of Umesh Pal, the lawyer who was abducted and killed, on Tuesday, said that they want the mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed, a prime accused in the case to be given the death sentence stating that they want his “empire of terror to end”.
“…We don’t have the strength to fight a case in the time to come. He (Atiq Ahmed) should be sentenced to death by hanging. If he is sentenced to life imprisonment, he can do anything from jail. He got my son killed from jail. He won’t let us live if he remains there…” Umesh Pal’s mother Shanti Devi told ANI ahead of a hearing of the case in Prayagraj court Umesh Pal’s widow Jaya Pal said, “I hope the court sentences him to death by hanging. If he lives, perhaps we won’t be able to live. Maybe it would be us next. If he is gone only then will terror be gone…”
“I want Atiq Ahmed’s empire to end, I don’t want him to be alive. I urge the court to give him a death sentence,” she said.
Who is Atiq Ahmed?
Atiq Ahmed, a former gangster who turned to politics, held the position of MLA for Allahabad West from 1989 to 2004. He also served as a Lok Sabha MP representing the Phulpur constituency in Uttar Pradesh from 2004 to 2009.
Atiq Ahmed, who was born on August 10, 1962, has been named in more than 100 cases. His brother Ashraf has 52 cases against him, while his wife Shaista Praveen and sons Ali and Umar Ahmad have three, four, and one case, respectively, against them.
In the 1989 UP Assembly election, Atiq Ahmed won the Allahabad West seat as an independent candidate, which he subsequently won in the next two elections as well. He then joined the Samajwadi Party in 1993 and later moved to Apna Dal in 1999. However, in 2003, he left Apna Dal and rejoined the Samajwadi Party, where he stayed until his arrest in 2018.
