On April 15, the notorious gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was gunned down by three assailants in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Atiq and his brother Ashraf were brought to the hospital by the police for a medical check-up when the incident took place. Soon after the incident, there were several speculations, some crediting Yogi Adityanath for showing how law and order is restored in a state dealing with an entrenched Mafia, some blaming Yogi Adityanath for turning Uttar Pradesh into a police state and others, speculating that there seems to more to the story.
What made matters far more interesting, is that videos that surfaced on Social Media showed the assailants surrendering after chanting “Jai Shree Ram”. As usual, leftists and Islamists proceeded to talk about how a “former MP” and his brother were murdered by “Hindu Nationalists”. They, of course, did not mention that the “former MP” they were sympathising with had over 100 FIRs against him and was a notorious gangster responsible for several murders, cases of extortion, and more.
While the Left and Islamists peddled their usual tropes, supporters of Yogi Adityanath asserted that when dealing with gangsters like Atiq Ahmed, there was seldom another way to rid the state of the malaise. They pointed out that 10 Judges had recused themselves from presiding over cases involving Atiq Ahmed because of the fear his name invokes and when the judiciary fails, and the system has been subverted by the Mafia, few other options remain.
However, after the initial inquiry, there certainly seems to be more than meets the eye. According to media reports, the 3 assailants, identified as Lavlesh Tiwari, Arun Maurya, and Sunny, were small-time criminals who wanted to carve their name in the crime world and become “big”.
“Atiq Ahmed use to kill for grabbing land and would not spare those who testified against him. His brother Ashraf was also involved. So, we killed both of them”, they were quoted as saying. The trio also told the police that they killed Atiq Ahmed and his brother over their ties with Pakistan.
The Chief Minister instituted a 3-member Judiciary commission to be set up to probe the killing of Atiq Ahmed and his brother, 17 police officials were suspended and Section 144 was imposed in all districts of Uttar Pradesh.
While Yogi Adityanath is known for his muscular approach to dealing with criminals and mafia syndicates, a lot about the killing of Atiq Ahmed did not particularly make a lot of sense and several questions have emerged ever since.
Speaking to OpIndia, 3 highly placed police officials expressed similar sentiments. They said, “Atiq Ahmed was being interrogated and revealing many things. Only days ago, he had revealed his connection to ISI and Pakistan. It is a known fact in Allahabad that Atiq Ahmed had deep links with several politicians. The mafia in Uttar Pradesh basically starts with Atiq and ends with Atiq and after the encounter of his son, he was revealing everything because he was scared of his own fate. Why would the state want to finish its biggest asset in this case given that our instruction was to ensure we get him to talk so we can finish the mafia raj in Uttar Pradesh from its roots”.
It is pertinent to note that the Uttar Pradesh Police had made several revelations about the connection of Atiq Ahmed and his mafia syndicate. It was revealed that they had connections with the underworld and that Dawood Ibrahim’s network was used to deliver weapons to Atiq Ahmed.
According to reports, Atiq Ahmed came in contact with the D-Company through former Mau MLA and mafia Mukhtar Ansari who was, last year, convicted and sentenced to 10 years in jail in the 1996 gangster case. Atiq Ahmed reportedly admitted during questioning that gangster Mukhtar Ansari had assisted him in getting in touch with the D gang.
Atiq and his brother Ashraf got along well with Abu Salem, a don for D Gang. After the Umesh Pal murder case, Asad, who was running from one city to another, was asked to come to Pune and then to Nashik by Abu Salem’s aides. A former MP is also alleged to have assisted in keeping Asad and the shooter Ghulam hidden in Pune, in addition to Abu Salem.
Additionally, Atiq reportedly admitted during interrogation that Dawood’s aide Abu Salem’s henchmen provided shelter and money to his son Asad Ahmed and gunman Mohammad Ghulam, who was killed in a police encounter at Jhansi.
With such revelations coming to the fore and the fact that Atiq was not only a former SP politician but also links to several politicians who were working actively to aid and strengthen his crime syndicate, police sources said that Atiq was a great asset to the police to ensure that several other culprits were also nabbed.
With the killing of Atiq, the UP police lost the opportunity to interrogate him further and ensure the Mafia Raj comes to an end, therefore, it would essentially seem unlikely that the State was, in any way, involved in the killing of Atiq.
Multiple police sources also indicated that the murder of Atiq and his brother had the footprints of a conspiracy.
“Who benefits from Atiq Ahmed being dead? Not the police or the state because he was our source to ensure other culprits were caught and the crime syndicate busted forever. So who would want him silenced? Politicians who he could potentially name? The underworld whose links were being revealed by him? Who would benefit from Atiq being silenced forever? Certainly not us”, a police officer close to the investigation said.
Another said, “The way he shouted Jai Shree Ram seems like a plant. We are investigating every possible angle. But we have seen this pattern multiple times in the past. Even Kasab wore a Kalava to mislead the probe against the Pakistani terror attack in Mumbai. They shouted Jai Shree Ram thinking that they won’t be shot if they chant that slogan. Also, we suspect that they chanted Ram’s name so that the narrative in the media and the public would go in a direction which is completely opposite to the truth. We did not want him silenced. We wanted Atiq to sing. We are probing who hatched this conspiracy and how”.
Interestingly, after what appears to be a conspiracy to ensure important names don’t emerge through the Atiq Ahmed probe, the Left and Islamist ecosystem is already working overtime to not only blame Hindus but also create violence and communalism after the incident.
ASIA, a far-left “student organisation” associated with the Communist Party of India Liberation has already called the killing “Islamophobic” and decided to burn the effigy of CM Yogi Adityanath to protest against it.
Apart from AISA, the usual suspects like Rana Ayyub and others who identify themselves as “Muslim journalists” are busy whitewashing the crimes of Atiq Ahmed to inject a communal twist to the case, by claiming that he was but an innocent former MP who has been “killed by the state” because he was a Muslims.
Amid the usual cacophony, the Uttar Pradesh Police is trying hard to unravel the mystery behind who killed Atiq Ahmed and his brother, hindering the probe being carried out by them.
