Atiq Ahmed, a former MLA, and MP faced at least 100 criminal cases. He was in the headlines since February when Umesh Pal, a lawyer and a witness in the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, was gunned down outside his home in Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmed, the prime accused in the BSP MLA’s murder, was also named an accused in Umesh Pal’s murder. Since 2019, Atiq Ahmed was at a Gujarat prison where he had been transferred after his alleged role in a businessman’s kidnapping.
After kidnapping a businessman, Atiq Ahmed was moved to a Gujarat jail.
Over the previous few months, reporters followed Atiq Ahmed to Prayagraj for court hearings and back to Gujarat.
The gangster’s 19-year-old son Asad, also an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was shot dead in an encounter by Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force on Thursday.
The gangster had repeatedly alleged that the Uttar Pradesh police planned to gun him down in a staged encounter. After a court date recently, he told the media, “It’s because of you that I am safe.”
