Atiq Ahmed is preceded by the word Baahubali in UP and was accused of murder at the age of 17. Come, let’s know who this Baahubali Atiq Ahmed of UP is and why he has been locked up in Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad since 2019. Cases including extortion are filed against him in Prayagraj and on the orders of Prayagraj Court, the Uttar Pradesh Police has taken him from Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad.
There are many people in the country’s politics who are very young or have come out of the mafia world. Some people have improved their image after becoming leaders, but Atiq Ahmed, who has played an important role in UP politics, has not come to terms with his image. It is the same today as it was three decades ago. He wears a white kerchief turban on his head and even today bears the nickname Baahubali before his name.
Atiq Ahmed was born on 10 August 1962 in Sravasti Janpad. He had no particular interest in studies, so he dropped out after failing high school. Atiq, like many mafias, has come to politics from the underworld. His name has come up in many cases like extortion, kidnapping in Purvanchal and Allahabad. Atiq Ahmed was accused of murder in 1979 at the age of just 17. At present, 196 complaints have been filed against him. Cases like murder, kidnapping, extortion have been registered against him not only in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Kaushambi, Chitrakoot, Allahabad, but also in Bihar. Most of the cases against him are registered in Allahabad i.e. Prayagraj. In Kanpur too, five cases were registered against him, of which he has been acquitted.
Having made a name for himself in the world of crime, Atik understood the importance of power. So he decided to enter politics. In the year 1989, he became MLA for the first time from Allahabad assembly seat. He contested elections as an independent in 1991 and 1993 and also became an MLA. In 1996, the Samajwadi Party gave him a ticket on the same seat and he became an MLA again. Atiq Ahmed joined Apna Dal Party in 1999. He contested from Pratapgarh and lost. He became an MLA again in 2002 from the same party. In 2003, when the government was formed in UP, Atiq again took Mulayam Singh’s hand. In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, the Samajwadi Party gave him a ticket from the Phulpur parliamentary constituency and he became the MP there. Mayawati came to power in Uttar Pradesh in May 2007. All his decisions started going wrong. One after another cases were registered against him.
Another mystery of Atiq Ahmed is also very interesting. He never takes funds during elections by calling or threatening anyone, but puts up banners in posh areas of the city and says that your representative expects your support. Vote and win the poor. People used to send funds to Atiq’s house by reading the words written in the banner. Not only that, if he wanted to give a message to his special man, he used to advertise in various news papers, in which he wrote the dos and don’ts.
He became an MP from Phulpur in the 2004 assembly elections on a SP ticket. Apart from this, Allahabad West assembly seat was vacant. A by-election was held in the seat, SP gave ticket to Atiq’s younger brother Ashraf, but his so-called left hand BSP fielded Raju Pal against him. Raju defeats Ashraf. Raju Pal, who won a by-election and became a first-time MLA, was shot dead a few months later on 25 January 2005 on a sunny day. MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were directly accused in this massacre.
Atiq was working as an MP even after being named accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal. This led to much condemnation from all quarters and finally Mulayam Singh expelled Baahubali MP Atiq Ahmad from the party in December 2007. Atiq tried to intimidate the witnesses of the Raju Pal massacre, but he could not succeed due to the fall of Mulayam Singh and Mayawati’s rise to power. He was on the run due to fear of arrest. The assets of five places including his house, office were confiscated after the court order. The police announced a reward of 20 thousand rupees for his arrest. A circular was issued for MP Atiq’s arrest, but fearing Mayawati, he considered surrendering in Delhi.
After Mayawati came to power, Atik’s condition started to deteriorate. Officials of the Police Development Zone declared its special Alina City illegal and demolished the construction. As part of Operation Atiq itself, on 5 July 2007, Famesh Pal, a witness to Raju Pal’s murder, filed a complaint against him in the Dhumanganj Police Station regarding abduction and coercion of statement. After that, a complaint was registered against him from four other witnesses. Within two months, 9 cases were registered against Atiq Ahmed in Allahabad (Prayagraj) and one each in Kaushambi and Chitrakoot.
Then on March 19, 2017, when Yogi Adityanath took oath as the Chief Minister of UP, he was an MLA in the SP for two years. On 26 December 2018, UP businessman Mohit Jaiswal was threatened by Atiq’s men and forced to transfer all his business in the name of Atiq Ahmed. Mohit Jaiswal fearlessly sued Atiq. He was then transferred from Deoria Jail to Bareilly Jail. Finally, the case reached the High Court and then the Supreme Court before being heard. The Supreme Court handed over the hearing to the CBI and ordered Atiq to be kept under high security in the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad outside UP. Along with this, 5 employees of Deoria Jail were suspended.
