Atiq Ahmed’s wife Shaista Parveen: Homemaker and mother of five, and now on the run

On Tuesday, Shaista’s maternal home at Chakia, a two-storey house, lay deserted, the doors left open, the household items in disarray.

Shaista Parveen’s paternal house at Damupur village in Prayagraj. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

It was to this house that Shaista’s father Mohammad Haroon moved with his family around four decades ago. “His primary reason for moving was that there was no good school for his children (four daughters and two sons) in Damupur village,” says Mohammad Idreesh, 72, who lives across the road from Haroon’s house in Chakia.

In September 2020, when the Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) demolished Atiq and Shaista’s house at Chakia area in Prayagraj, she had moved in to a rented house opposite her parent’s home. Around a week after Umesh Pal’s murder, the PDA had on March 1 demolished the house, stating that it was built “without completing necessary formalities”.

Sources said that while in police service, Haroon was transferred to another district but his family stayed back at Chakia, where Shaista completed her Class 12 and enrolled for her graduation. In 1996, she got married to Atiq Ahmed, then a budding politician in the area.

Shaista Parveen’s paternal house at Damupur village in Prayagraj. (Express photo by Vishal Srivastav)

“Only few persons were invited for the marriage held in Chakia,” said Rashid Ali from Damupur.

As Atiq’s profile grew in Allahabad, Shaista’s family grew more involved in his activities. A few years after her marriage, Shaista’s younger brother Jaki Ahmed started working with Atiq and handled his land cases. Jaki is now lodged in Lucknow district jail for allegedly kidnapping Lucknow-based businessman Mohit Jaiswal and assaulting him.

Another of her brothers, Sabi Ahmed, is a teacher at a madrasa in Prayagraj. Shaista’s three sisters are married and live in different parts of Prayagraj. With the police conducting raids to trace Shaista, they have all left their homes. Few in Chakia speak about Shaista or the extended family.

A photo of three men; (L-R) Arun Maurya, Sunny Purane and Lavlesh Tiwari, who opened fire at gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf while they were being taken for a medical checkup in Prayagraj. (PTI Photo)

Sources say that while Shaista maintained a low profile for long, largely confined to her home and children, it was after 2019, when the Supreme Court directed that Atiq be shifted from Prayagraj to Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat in the Mohit Jaiswal kidnapping case, that she started stepping in for him at public and political functions.

A source said that when Atiq was shifted in Gujarat, the family realised that it won’t be easy for him to come out soon. Besides, both of Atiq’s sons Ali Ahmed and Umar Ahmed and his younger brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf (who was killed with him on April 15) were in different jails in criminal cases.

“The family had to make its presence felt in Prayagraj, so Shaista started appearing in public from 2019. She started meeting people and attending functions, representing her husband Atiq,” said the source.

Atiq and Ashraf were shot dead Saturday (April 15) night at the gate of Motilal Nehru Zonal Hospital (Colvin), where the Prayagraj police were taking them for medical examination.

Police said that their preliminary investigation into the Umesh Pal murder case has revealed that Shaista used to run Atiq’s business by proxy.

According to police records, Shaista has, besides the Umesh Pal murder case, at least three other cases for alleged forgery and under the Arms Act at the Colonelganj Police Station in Prayagraj. These matters are pending in court, said a police officer.

According to the UP Police, in his statement recorded inside jail, Atiq admitted that when Shaista’s visited Sabarmati Central Jail, he allegedly had asked her to purchase new cell phones and SIM cards for him and Ashraf. He also allegedly gave her the name of a policeman who would deliver the phone to him in prison.

Police also claim that Atiq told them that Shaista was given the task of coordinating with the attackers in the Umesh Pal — her son Asad who was killed in the police encounter on April 13 was among the shooters — and providing weapons to them. Later, after the execution of the crime, Shaista was reportedly asked to collect weapons from them and keep them at a safe place.

Atiq’s lawyer Vijay Mishra has denied the police’s allegations.

In January this year, Shaista joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), with sources saying she hoped to contest the mayoral polls. The BSP, however, did not give her a ticket.

After the Umesh Pal murder, as the Prayagraj Police started conducting searches to trace Shaista Parveen, she filed an application in court accusing the police of illegally taking away her two minor sons on the evening of February 24. Police later told a local court that the boys had been found in Prayagraj and were admitted to a child protection home.