From SP MP to Life Term in Umesh Pal Murder Case: All About UP’s Dreaded ‘Bahubali’ Atiq Ahmed

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Umesh Pal, a former Zila Panchayat member, had told police he was the prime witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder on January 25, 2005, in which the gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad was the main accused

Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, one of the most dreaded criminals and “Bahubali” in the country, was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by an MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj on Tuesday for the 2006 kidnapping of Umesh Pal. Pal was a witness in the murder of BSP Lawmaker Raju Pal.

Special MP-MLA court judge Dinesh Chandra Shukla held Atiq Ahmed, Saulat Hanif, a lawyer, and Dinesh Pasi guilty under Indian Penal Code section 364-A (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder). “The court has awarded the three rigorous life imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine to each,” Government counsel Gulab Chandra Agrahari said.

Ahmed’s brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf and six others were acquitted in the case.

The sentencing was done after elaborate arrangements were made for bringing Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf to the Naini jail in Prayagraj on Monday via long road journeys from two separate prisons. The accused were transferred with tight security in place amid allegations by the former Samajwadi Party legislator that he would be “murdered” in an encounter on the way.

In another blow, the Supreme Court also dismissed the jailed former MP’s plea seeking protection during his custody with Uttar Pradesh police.

Who is Atiq Ahmed, the Notorious ‘Bahubali’ of UP?

Atiq Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP from Phulpur, has his first criminal case back in 1979 in which he was named as an accused in a murder case.
Ten years later, he stepped into politics and won the Allahabad West assembly seat as an Independent in elections in 1989, 1991 and 1993. He contested the 1996 elections from the seat on the Samajwadi Party ticket and won.
He joined the Apna Dal (AD) and lost the Pratapgarh seat in 1999. He again won the Allahabad West seat in the 2002 Assembly elections on the Apna Dal ticket.
In 2003, Ahmed returned to the SP and won from the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency in 2004, the seat famously held by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
He was named the key accused in the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal’s murder in 2005. The incident occurred after Raju defeated Ahmed’s brother, Ashraf, in an Assembly by-election for the Allahabad West seat in 2005, according to reports.
Atiq Ahmed finally surrendered in 2008 under political and police pressure, only to be released in 2012.
Ahmed ran for Lok Sabha elections in 2014 on an SP ticket but lost. His relationship with the SP deteriorated and it is believed Akhilesh Yadav distanced himself from Ahmed due to his criminal past.
Ahmed was previously lodged in the Sabarmati central jail in June 2019 following a Supreme Court order after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in prison in Uttar Pradesh. He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the Umesh Pal murder case.
Earlier this month, the Allahabad High Court rejected the bail application of Atiq Ahmed’s son Ali Ahmed in a 2021 extortion case and called Atiq one of the most dreaded criminals, “Bahubali” and Mafia Don in the country. “Accused-applicant is the son of one of the most dreaded criminals, Bahubali and Mafia Don, Atique Ahmad, who has to his credit more than a hundred criminal cases of murder, abduction, extortion, ransom, property grabbing and other heinous offences. The accused applicant himself to his credit has other cases registered against him,” the court said.

Umesh Pal Abduction and Murder Case

Umesh Pal, a former Zila Panchayat member, had told police he was the prime witness in the BSP MLA Raju Pal’s murder on January 25, 2005, in which the gangster-turned-politician was the main accused.
He later alleged that he was kidnapped at gunpoint on February 28, 2006, as he refused to retract and buckle under pressure from Ahmad. An FIR in the case was registered on July 5, 2007, against Ahmed, his brother and others. The police had submitted a chargesheet in the matter against 11 people. One of them later died.
Umesh Pal and two policemen assigned to protect him were killed in a shooting in Prayagraj on February 23, 2023.
After Pal’s murder in February, a case was lodged at the Dhoomanganj police station in Prayagraj against Ahmed, his brother Ashraf, his wife Shaista Parveen, two sons, aides Guddu Muslim and Ghulam, and nine others based on a complaint from Umesh Pal’s wife Jaya. She alleged that Ahmed and his aides allegedly abducted Pal in 2006 and forced him to give a statement in court in their favour.
The FIR also alleged that a conspiracy was hatched by Ahmed, Ashraf and Parveen to kill Umesh Pal and his security guard Sandeep Nishad and the attack on them was carried out by the former MP’s sons and aides.
Two men allegedly linked to Umesh Pal’s killing, Arbaaz and Vijay Chowdhary alias Usman, were killed in police encounters on February 27 and March 6 respectively.
On March 13, the Uttar Pradesh Police had increased the reward for anyone providing information leading to the arrest of five accused, including former MP Atiq Ahmed’s son Asad, in the Umesh Pal murder case from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Atiq Ahmed Held guilty in 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case

On Tuesday, Ahmed, Ashraf and others were brought to the court from Naini jail in separate police vans and produced before the judge amid tight security.
The court held Ahmed, Saulat Hanif, a lawyer, and Dinesh Pasi guilty under Indian Penal Code section 364-A (kidnapping or abduction in order to murder) and awarded the three rigorous life imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine to each.
According to the court’s analysis, Umesh Pal was kidnapped by Atiq Ahmed, Hanif and Ansar in 2006. Pal was threatened to be killed and was also given electric shocks.
Accused Khan Shaulat Hanif forced Umesh Pal to sign the pre-written statement, which the latter did due to the threat to his life. The prosecution has proved beyond reasonable doubt that Atiq and others abducted Pal and made him give a false statement in their favour, the court observed on Tuesday.
“Such practice of influencing the witness to testify in their favour hurts the integrity of the entire judicial system,” the court said, adding, the “practice shakes the conscious of the public in the entire judicial process.”
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court dismissed Ahmed’s plea seeking protection during his custody with Uttar Pradesh police and granted Ahmed liberty to approach the Allahabad High Court for protection.
Ahmed’s counsel Dayashankar Mishra said they have the right to appeal and they will approach the High court against the conviction. He said Ahmed will be kept in Sabarmati Jail (Ahmedabad) in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision.