Atiq Ahmed held guilty in Umesh Pal kidnapping case: Who is this don-turned-politician?

The case involves the alleged kidnapping of Umesh Pal, who along with his two police guards was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24. Umesh was an eyewitness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case in which Ahmed is a prime accused. According to Umesh’s wife, Jaya, in 2006 the former MP and his associates kidnapped her husband and forced him to give a statement in their favour in court.

After Umesh’s murder last month, an FIR was registered against Ahmed and his wife Sahista Parveen, their two sons, his younger brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf and others.

Who is Atiq Ahmed?

Ahmed is a former MP and five-time MLA, who was until Sunday lodged in the Sabarmati jail for allegedly assaulting faculty members of an agricultural research institute in Prayagraj in 2016.

His political journey began in 1989 when he won the MLA seat from Allahabad West as an independent candidate. After retaining his seat in the next two legislative Assembly elections, Ahmed joined the Samajwadi Party (SP) and won his fourth consecutive term in 1996. Three years later, he became part of Apna Dal and once again won the seat in 2002.

The next year, he returned to SP and became MP in 2004 from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency, a seat once held by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

The first major setback for the politician came when he was named in the murder case of Raju Pal. According to reports, the incident took place after Raju defeated Ahmed’s brother, Ashraf, in an Assembly bypoll held in 2005 for the Allahabad West seat. “It was a big loss for the Ahmed family as the seat had fallen vacant after Atiq won the Lok Sabha seat from Allahabad in the 2004 general elections”, The Indian Express reported.

On January 25, 2005, Raju was shot dead near his house while he was returning from a hospital along with his associates Sandeep Yadav and Devi Lal. Subsequently, Raju’s wife lodged an FIR against Atiq, Ashraf and seven unidentified people on charges of rioting, attempt to murder, murder and criminal conspiracy.

Due to political and police pressure, Atiq Ahmed finally surrendered in 2008 only to be released in 2012. He then contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections on an SP ticket but lost. Things worsened for him during this time as his relationship with the SP soured as Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from Ahmed due to his criminal record.

In February 2017, he was arrested by the police for allegedly assaulting staff members of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences in Prayagraj. Despite being in prison, Ahmed contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and got 855 votes. According to various media reports, the 60-year-old politician is facing over 70 cases of murder, attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and assault.