Janu Khan regrets being a gravedigger when he was told to dig graves for gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azeem aka Ashraf on April 16 at Kasari Masari Graveyard at Chakiya on the outskirts of Prayagraj.
On late Sunday night, the mafia brothers, who were shot by the three attackers– Lovelesh Tiwari, Sunny Singh and Arun Maurya – posing as journalists at point-blank range while they were speaking to reporters in Prayagraj, were buried amidst tight security at the graveyard near Chakiya locality where Atiq was brought up.
The low-profile funeral was carried out in the presence of Atiq’s close relatives as his four sons including two minors couldn’t make it to the graveyard following legal hassles. And his wife, Shaista Parveen, who is carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on her head, was still at large.
Janu Khan, who is in his 30s, said it’s for the first time he regretted being a gravedigger. “It was an uneasy feeling when I was told to dig Atiq’s grave that measures 7 feet long and 4 feet wide whereas his brother Ashraf’s was 7 feet long and 3.5 feet wide,” says Khan.
He said it is perhaps for the first time in his almost 20 years’ profession he regretted his being a gravedigger. “I never thought that the day would come when I would dig the grave of a dreaded gangster, who has killed many and destroyed thousands of families. The feeling was killing in itself as I never wanted to relate by name with such a dreaded gangster but due to my profession I couldn’t avert the call,” says Khan.
It was around 20 years ago that Khan, who had been working at the Kasari Masari Graveyard, decided to work at the graveyard as a gravedigger after he lost his father who too worked in the same graveyard. “My father always used to say that ‘kabr khodna sawab ka kaam hota hai…’ (It’s a good deed) and such good deeds are always rewarded by Allah,” said Khan.
In his initial days as a gravedigger, Khan said he was told that he won’t be a good gravedigger as he has short legs and hence he won’t be able to stand on the open graves.
“But I proved them wrong. In almost 20 years of profession, I worked passionately. I believe that it was my father’s words that kept me going all these years,” he said.
But the feeling he experienced on Sunday while digging Atiq’s grave was different. “My father is no more now, but It was my mother who pacified me and made me understand that the dreaded gangster is now a nobody, he is just like any other among us. And if you won’t do it, who else would?” he said.
Khan says it took almost 10 hours to dig the two graves on a hot sunny day. “Generally, it takes less time but since Ramzan is on and he was fasting, it took a little longer for them to dig the grave as they were taking rest at short intervals,” said Khan.
Other than Khan, seven others, including Fauji, Saif, Talim, Pappu Palti and Javed were among the ones who prepared the graves of the mafia brothers. Other gravediggers too opined more or less the same.
Atiq was buried near his parents grave. Atiq’s mother Usma and his father Feroz Ahmed too were buried in the same graveyard.
The bodies of Atiq and Ashraf were taken to the graveyard by the police in two separate ambulances. First, Atiq Ahmed’s body was taken to the graveyard at around 6.30 pm after the post-mortem examination was completed at the mortuary in SRN hospital by a panel of doctors. At around 7 pm, another ambulance took Ashraf’s body directly to the Kasari Masari Graveyard for the last rites. All the pre-burial rituals were carried out at the graveyard itself where the district officials had got two graves dug up adjacent to each other, just a few metres from the grave of Asad — son of Atiq Ahmed.
Three days ago, accused in the Umesh Pal murder, Asad, was killed in a police encounter on February 14 along with his close aide Ghulam in UP’s Jhansi, was also buried in the same graveyard, near grave of his grandfather Feroz Ahmed.
Atiq’s wife Shaista Parveen and Ashraf’s wife Zainab Rubi did not attend the funeral. The two minor sons of Atiq lodged in Children’s Shelter Home (Rajrooppur) as well as his two eldest sons Umar (lodged in Lucknow Jail) and Ali (lodged in Naini Central Jail) could not attend it. All his sons were informed about his father’s murder on Sunday evening itself, the police confirmed. Around 100 people, including a dozen women and close relatives attended the funeral.
In the backdrop of the hustle and bustle at the low profile funeral, Khan got his remuneration — Rs 400. He says that day has etched in his memories forever, not because he dug Atiq’s grave but because on the day he learnt a lesson that how big the person is, how dreaded the gangster is, ‘ek din sabko mitti mein mil jana hai‘.
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