New Delhi: Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed was gunned down late Saturday along with his brother Ashraf. This came the day Atiq’s son, killed in an ‘encounter’ with the UP Police just a couple of days, was buried. Here’s a timeline of the past couple of months when things came to a head for Atiq, who was safely ensconced at Sabarmati jail in Gujarat till March.
24 February: Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case, shot dead. Atiq was a co-accused in the case. Pal had turned hostile in the Raju Pal case after allegedly being pressured by Atiq. He had filed an abduction case against Atiq in 2007.
25 February: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath reportedly declares in the Assembly ‘is mafia ko mitti mein mila denge’.
27 February: Meanwhile Pal’s murder, captured on camera, showed five people. Reports show that four of those men have been killed by the UP Police in encounters. Arbaz, the alleged driver of the vehicle used in Umesh Pal murder, shot down.
1 March: With UP government’s crackdown on encroachments, many properties, belonging allegedly to Atiq’s aides, were razed in the state in the month of March. House of Zafar Ahmed, an alleged aide of Atiq’s, demolished in Prayagraj.
2 March: Three bulldozers and another heavy-duty machine are deployed to demolish the two-storey building under Dhoomanganj police station area in Prayagraj, owned by Safdar Ali, an alleged arms trader linked to Atiq.
4 March: House of pradhan of Ahmedpur Asrauli village, Noor Zahira, razed. Her husband is a history sheeter, and allegedly an associate of Atiq’s.
6 March: Vijay Chaudhary, who allegedly fired the first shot at Umesh, killed in an ‘encounter’.
17 March: Atiq’s lawyer, who had asked for an urgent hearing in the Supreme Court for protection to the ex-legislator in Umesh Pal case, seeks more time.
28 March: Next date of hearing of Atiq’s case. The apex court refuses relief to Atiq, saying he is in the UP government’s protection.
28 March: The court holds Atiq Ahmed and two others guilty in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. This is Atiq’s first conviction in over 130 cases against him, the first one being when he was merely 17.
30 March: Atiq taken back to Sabarmati jail.
12 April: Atiq and brother Ashraf brought to Prayagraj from Sabarmati and Bareilly jails respectively, in Umesh Pal case.
13 April: The brothers are produced in court and their remand custody sought. Court gives remand till 17 April.
13 April: Atiq’s son Asad and his aide Ghulam gunned down by the UP Police in an encounter.
15 April: Asad and Ghulam are buried. Atiq and Ashraf shot dead late Saturday.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
Also read:‘Pure anarchy, murder of rule of law’: Politicians condemn killings of Atiq Ahmed, his brother