Explained: Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his links to Pakistan, in life and death

It seems like a script straight out of a gangster film. But this is a tale of Uttar Pradesh’s dark side. Notorious don and former lawmaker Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were gunned down on Saturday by three shooters who posed as journalists. They were shot point blank when being escorted to a hospital handcuffed – in the presence of policemen and as TV cameras rolled.

The murders bring to an end the “gangster era” in UP’s Prayagraj, say former policemen. Ahmed first grabbed attention in 1979 and his reign of terror continued until 44 years later. There have been cases of murder and extortion, links to Pakistan’s infamous Inter-Services Intelligence and some 100-odd FIRs filed against him. Yet it was only recently that his first conviction came: On 28 March 2023, Ahmed was awarded a life sentence in the abduction and killing of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the 2005 murder case of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Raju Pal.

The links to ISI

According to the police, Ahmed had links to the Pakistan spy agency. He was reportedly the leader of the IS 227 gang. With at least 132 members, which included his brother, his three sons and wife, the gang indulged in extortion and land grabbing.

The kingpin also had ties with the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. According to a First Information Report (FIR) registered at the Shahganj police station in UP, Ahmed confessed to links to ISI and the LeT.

The gang reportedly received arms dropped through Pakistani drones in Punjab. “The ISI, using drones, used to drop weapons in Punjab, and someone linked to the ISI used to collect these arms and send some of them to LeT, some to Khalistan separatist organisations, and some weapons like .45 bore pistol, AK-47 and RDX were made available to me, and I used to pay for the same. People belonging to these organisations also used to come to my place. And, information gathered from their conversations suggested that they wanted to cause a major incident in the country,” Ahmed reportedly told police.

Ahmed, during his interrogation, revealed that he knew the whereabouts of the people associated with the ISI and the LeT but could not locate them from jail. “I know the places where the weapons have been kept. These places do not have house numbers. If you (police) take me and my brother together, we can identify these places,” he said.

According to the brothers, the arms used to murder Umesh Pal were also received from Pakistan.

Ironically, the Zigana pistol which was used to kill Ahmed and his brother also has a Pakistan link. Originally, the weapon is made in Turkey, Banned in India, it is often illegally imported from the neighbouring nation. Local workshops in the country’s gun valley, Darra Adam Khel, create and sell copies of Zigana models illegally, according to a report in the Turkish defence daily.

The weapons are made like the original but sold at a much lower price.

A web of crimes

Ahmed committed his first murder in 1979 and caught the attention of the police as he was booked for the crime in Prayagraj’s Khuldabad police station. Soon, he gained notoriety after joining gangster Shok-e-Ilahi alias Chand Baba.

Chand Baba was considered a saviour of the poor by locals and enjoyed political patronage. It’s when Ahmed started harbouring political ambitions that the two clashed.

Ahmed decided to contest the 1989 Uttar Pradesh elections from the Allahabad West constituency as an independent candidate. Chand Baba decided to challenge him and filed a nomination from the same constituency after being reportedly brainwashed by his political godfathers.

During an election rally, Chand Baba was killed and a case was filed against Ahmed. With the murder, Ahmed became the don of Prayagraj, then Allahabad.

He became a dominant figure in Allahabad West and won as an independent candidate in 1991 and 1993. In 1996, he contested on a Samajwadi Party ticket and in 2002, on an Apna Dal ticket. After winning five consecutive terms as MLA, his political ambitions grew with time.

In 2004, he contested the Lok Sabha elections from an SP ticket and won from Phulpur, the constituency once held by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. But he resigned soon after, necessitating a by-poll. BSP’s Raju Pal defeated Ahmed’s brother Ashraf.

Defeat is not something Ahmed took well. Pal was killed in Prayagraj by Ahmed and his men in 2005 – at least two dozen bullets were removed from the slain MLA’s body. Ashraf, who became the prime accused in the murder, then defeated Pal’s widow Pooja.

The case against Ahmed and Ashraf dragged on with Pooja Pal being the main complainant. The brothers had become accustomed to silencing those standing up to them.

In 2006, Ahmed and his men allegedly abducted Umesh Pal, the key witness in the MLA’s murder. Seventeen years later, on 24 February 2034, Umesh Pal was gunned down in broad daylight by the gang.

In all these years, Ahmed had become unstoppable. Extortions, kidnappings, and land grabbing continued. In January 2007, he shielded an accused in a gangrape case in a local madrassa. In 2016, his henchmen assaulted staff members of a university in Allahabad.

If one political party distanced itself from Ahmed, he found refuge in another. In 2021, his wife Shaista Parveen joined the AIMIM only to quit and join the BSP in January 2023. Yes, the same party that Rajul Pal belonged to.

In the end, Ahmed met his end in the way as he eliminated his rivals. Gunned down in public.

With inputs from agencies

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