33 dons on UP govt radar as it seizes their Rs 1,000-cr assets in 4 yrs. Ansari, Atiq top list

The Yogi Adityanath government has prepared a list of 33 jailed gangsters, whose properties are being scrutinised for action.

Property belonging to Mukhtar Ansari that was demolished in Lucknow last year | By special arrangement

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has claimed that it has seized and demolished property worth Rs 1,000 crore, allegedly illegally acquired by gangsters in the state, over the past four years. 

According to data accessed by ThePrint from the home department and the UP Police, a majority of the destroyed properties belonged to high-profile mafioso such as Mukhtar Ansari, Sunder Bhati, Atiq Ahmed, Bablu Srivastava and Khan Mubarak.  

The government has said it is acting under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, which it amended in February this year to allow deputy commissioner-rank officers to order the attachment of alleged gangster property. These powers had earlier been vested with the commissioners of police and district magistrates. 

The data shows the government has now prepared a list of 33 gangsters — all are currently in jail — whose properties are being scrutinised.      

Around 25 of these names are being monitored by the home department while illegal properties of the other eight are being looked into by the UP Police. 

“Of the Rs 1,000 crore demolished properties, over Rs 500 crore of them belonged to the big 33, especially Atiq, Mukhtar and Sunder Bhati,” Prashant Kumar, ADG (law and order), told ThePrint. 

“These are the high-profile mafia who have a lot of illegal constructions. The search for their illegal constructions is still ongoing. We take action as quickly as we get the information.”

A source in the home department said there have been more demolitions since the state government amended the law.

In the last few months, several alleged illegal constructions owned by Mukhtar Ansari, Atiq Ahmed, Sunder Bhati, Anil Dujana and Badan Singh Baddo have been demolished in the state, the source said.

“The monitoring is being done on the orders of the government,” the source added.

In an achievement booklet released by the state government recently, it has claimed that 36,990 accused have been arrested under the gangster Act in the last four years.  

Ansari & Atiq top the list

Home department data shows that former MP Atiq Ahmed tops this list, with his assets worth Rs 203 crore having been demolished as of now. He is followed by Mukhtar Ansari and his aides, who have had property worth Rs 179 crore seized or demolished. Ansari is currently lodged in a Punjab jail while Atiq is in the Central Jail at Sabarmati in Gujarat. 

Of the others on the list, Sunder Bhati has had property worth around Rs 56 crore seized by the government. 

Former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh lauded the government’s approach. “The gangster Act gives power to seize the properties of the mafia. It can be considered as a no-nonsense approach,” he said. “It is the best way to crack down on organised crime. I recently read that a lot of mafia properties are being seized. It shows the government’s seriousness in clamping down on organised crime.”

Not everyone, however, is buying it. 

The government drew flak last year after it booked 27 protesters, allegedly involved in the December 2019 protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Uttar Pradesh, under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act 1986.  

The law has been controversial since it was enacted in 1986.

Samajwadi Party MLC Sunil Singh Sajan accused the government of using the law selectively to deal with crime. “This BJP government is taking action on the basis of caste and religion,” he said. “The BJP will not touch those who suit its narrative while seize and demolish the properties of those who don’t toe its line. It is a selective approach. Every criminal should be dealt with equally.”

(Edited by Arun Prashanth)