The Uttar Pradesh Police initiated attachment of the ill-gotten property of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed estimated to be around Rs 13 crore under the Gangsters Act, senior officials said on Monday.
The attachment of the property, spread in around 5.0510 hectares (20 bighas), has been initiated, confirmed Varun Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Dhoomanganj (Prayagraj).
According to the police, the order was passed in the court of Ramit Sharma, Police Commissioner, Prayagraj. “It was found that land, spread across 13 places, was made to register in the name of a daily wage labourer Hublal on August 14, 2015, by slain mafia Atiq Ahmed. In totality, he (Atiq Ahmed) bought around 16 properties after mounting pressure on 14 people and got it all registered in the name of Hublal, who is a Below Poverty Line (BPL) card owner. The case regarding the same was registered in Khuldabad Thana of Prayagaj under Gangster Act in 2020. Along with Atiq, one Niyaaz, Jahid, Reiyaaz, Mohammed Sheikh and others were named in the FIR,” the police said.
The police further said Hublal had appeared before the Prayagraj Police after Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were murdered by three assailants in the police custody outside the hospital while being taken for a medical check-up in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023. “Hublal, who appeared before the police narrated the saga, stating how Atiq made him sign the property papers at gunpoint, making him ‘dummy owner’ of the property,” the police said. The matter was investigated under Cantt Police Station, Prayagraj.
Prayagraj Police has so far claimed to have attached properties worth more than Rs 350 crore in more than 15 cases registered against Atiq Ahmed under the Gangsters Act. The biggest seizure was made in November 2022 when the police attached two prime properties worth Rs 123 crore owned by Atiq Ahmed in the name of his father and uncle in Havelia village. The police, however, said other properties of the slain gangster are too being traced.
Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government launched a crackdown on 11 dreaded mafia leaders who are on the run. UP Director General of Police Vijay Kumar has issued a letter to all the police commissioners and SSPs to initiate action against the criminals in line with the Yogi Adityanath government’s policy of zero tolerance towards gangsters.
The police had first released a list of mafia leaders after chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s warning — ‘Mafiaaon ko mitti mein mila denge’ (will reduced mafias to dust) — in the state assembly during a heated debate with leader of opposition and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in the Umesh Pal murder case.
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