Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed being moved from Gujarat jail to UP

Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed is being moved from Sabarmati central jail in Ahmedabad to Prayagraj, where he will be produced before a court on March 28 when it passes an order in Umesh Pal kidnapping case in which he is an accused, officials said.

However, sources said the 60-year-old, fearing for his life, had initially refused to move when a UP police team reached Gujarat on Sunday morning to take him to Prayagraj. Sources said Atiq Ahmed’s legal team was under the impression that the sentencing was to take place through video conferencing. However, they were informed that he would be taken to Prayagraj by road, in a police van — a journey of more than 30 hours.

Also read: UP: Prayagraj police use bulldozers to demolish house of Atiq Ahmed’s close aide

Lawyer to move HC

Sources said Atiq Ahmed’s lawyer will file an application in the Allahabad High Court shortly asking that like the hearing, the court’s decision also be pronounced through video conferencing.

The UP police team finally left the Sabarmati jail premises amid tight security with Ahmed in a police van around 6 pm after completing the necessary formalities. Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MP, has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there from his home state as per the Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court had in April 2019 directed that the former MP from Phulpur in UP be shifted to a high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in jail. He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

Also read: Another accused in Umesh Pal murder case killed in encounter: UP Police

Apprehends fake encounter

Among the most sensational murders in which Ahmed is allegedly involved was that of BSP MLA Raju Pal who was shot dead in 2005. Umesh Pal, a key witness in the murder case, was abducted in 2005 and later released. However, Umesh Pal was gunned down outside his residence in Prayagraj on February 24 this year. Ahmed is also accused of killing Umesh Pal. Another man allegedly involved in the murder case was shot in an encounter earlier this month.

Earlier this month, Ahmed had moved the Supreme Court for protection, claiming that he and his family were falsely implicated in the Umesh Pal murder case in Prayagraj and he may be killed in a fake encounter by the Uttar Pradesh police. In his plea, Ahmed said the Uttar Pradesh police were in all likelihood seeking his transit remand and police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he “genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period”.