Gangster-turned-neta gets life for abduction

Atiq Ahmed, a former MLA and MP from Samajwadi Party. Pic/PTI

An MP-MLA court here on Tuesday held gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and two others guilty in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case, and sentenced them to rigorous life imprisonment. "The special MP-MLA court also imposed Rs 1 lakh fine on each," government counsel Gulab Chandra Agrahari said. The court acquitted Ahmad's brother Khalid Azim and six others.

Earlier, when they were produced in the court, a number of lawyers raised slogans of "fansi do". Ahmad's counsel Dayashankar Mishra said they will approach the high court against the conviction. Umesh Pal's mother Shanti Devi said expressed apprehension that Ahmad "could do anything from inside the jail" and "requested the court to award him capital punishment for getting my son killed."

"My son fought like a lion. He was awaiting judgment in this case. He was sure that Ahmad would get punished in the case. But he (Ahmad) got him (Umesh) killed. We will not challenge today's court order. I want to request the CM to take care of us," she said.

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The cases

Umesh, then a zila panchayat member, was a witness to the murder of the then BSP MLA Raju Pal on January 25, 2005. He later accused Ahmad of kidnapping him at gunpoint on February 28, 2006, as he refused to retract. An abduction case was filed on July 5, 2007.

Ahmad and Ashraf are also accused of being involved in a conspiracy to kill Umesh from inside the prison. Umesh was gunned down outside his Prayagraj residence on February 24. In this case, Umesh's wife Jaya filed a complaint in Prayagraj against Ahmad, his brother, his wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others.

Ahmad, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, was shifted to the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh.

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No of criminal cases against Atiq Ahmad

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