The mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed’s 40-year reign of terror came to an end on April 15, 2023, when he and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three attackers posing as journalists. Although there are numerous stories of Ahmed’s wrath and terror, there was a time when he and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi were at loggerheads.
It is known for a fact that Atiq Ahmed had over 100 FIRs lodged against him, for various criminal offences. Atiq Ahmed emerged as the kingpin of extortion and land-grabbing syndicate in Prayagraj.
In 2007, sixteen years ago, when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was in power in the Centre, mafia Atiq Ahmed unlawfully grabbed property in Prayagraj belonging to a Gandhi family relative named Veera Gandhi. The nephew of Sonia Gandhi’s father-in-law and Rajiv Gandhi’s father Feroze Gandhi’s brother-in-law is married to Veera Gandhi. Ahmed was then a member of parliament from the Phulpur constituency and a leader of the Samajwadi Party, which ruled Uttar Pradesh at that time.
Ahmed was eyeing the Palace Theatre property belonging to Veera Gandhi’s family in Prayagraj’s posh Civil Lines area for quite some time. He had his agents grab the Gandhi family home and install their own locks on the gates after purchasing the neighbouring property from one Asthana family. It is said that Veera Gandhi got a property behind the Palace Theatre during the partition of family assets.
Atiq Ahmed’s reign of terror at the time was so profound that even the local police and state government officials refused to intervene or help Veera Gandhi. Eventually, Veera Gandhi spoke with Sonia Gandhi, who subsequently notified Manmohan Singh, the then-Prime Minister about the issue.
The PMO went into action and issued orders to all top officials in the state to resolve he matter. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi asked Rita Bahuguna Joshi, who now is a member of the Bhartiya Janata Party and MP from Prayagraj but was a powerful Congress leader from Prayagraj at that time, to handle the issue. Joshi then spoke to the state officials and the matter was sorted.
Atiq Ahmed made the decision to leave the property and return it to its owners after learning that his acts had offended Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Minister’s Office. Later on, Veera Gandhi sold many of her properties in Prayagraj and moved to Mumbai.
Speaking to TOI about the incident, Rita Bahuguna Joshi said that Sonia Gandhi indeed called her to intervene in the matter, following which she spoke to the district administration officials, and eventually Atiq Ahmed pulled back in that case.
“Atiq was extremely greedy when it came to real estate. He had grabbed several properties in the city but had to pull back in the case of Veera Gandhi,” said former IG Lalji Shukla, who was the SP City in Prayagraj in 2001-03.
It is said that the gangster was proud of the charges against him. As an SP candidate for the Shrawasti constituency in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which he lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Daddan Mishra, he boasted that he has 188 outstanding cases against him and has spent half of his life behind bars. Atiq Ahmed declared that he would go to any extremes for his supporters, irrespective of the consequences. He had no fear of the law during the SP and BSP governments in the state. Atiq Ahmed was the first person who was booked under the ‘Gangster Act’ in Uttar Pradesh.
