Who is Atiq Ahmed, gangster-turned-politician sentenced to life imprisonment
What's the story
Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and two others have been sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2006 kidnapping case of lawyer Umesh Pal—an eyewitness of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal's 2005 murder—by a Prayagraj court. It also ordered the convicts to pay Rs. 1 lakh each to the family of Umesh, who was shot dead last month in Prayagraj. Here's everything about the criminal-turned-politician.
Case
Ahmed was involved in MLA Raju Pal's murder case
Ahmed was allegedly involved in the 2005 murder of MLA Raju. In 2006, he kidnapped eyewitness Umesh and forced him to give a statement in his favor. Umesh then filed a case against him and the court proceedings were ongoing. However, on February 24, Umesh was allegedly gunned down in broad daylight, and Ahmed became a prime accused in this killing, too.
Crime
Ahmed has 100 cases against his name
According to The Times Of India, 100 cases have been registered against Ahmed in the last 38 years. He is under trial in 50 cases and has been acquitted in 12 others. Two cases against him were dropped by the then-Samajwadi Party (SP) government in Uttar Pradesh in 2004. Meanwhile, Ahmed's brother, sons, and wife are accused in 53, eight, and four cases, respectively.
Politics
Ahmed contested Lok Sabha elections against PM Modi
The 60-year-old criminal entered politics in 1989 as an independent candidate and was elected as an MLA from Allahabad West Assembly seat the same year. He later joined the SP and was elected MP from Phulpur in 2004—the seat once held by former PM Jawaharlal Nehru. In 2019, he contested the Lok Sabha elections against PM Narendra Modi in Varanasi from jail and lost.