Prayagraj: From a former MP who is said to face 100 cases in Uttar Pradesh, to a suspected “bomb specialist” believed to strike terror in the residents of the Prayagraj locality where he lived.
These are among the 10 people booked in the 24 February killing of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the 2005 murder of UP MLA Raju Pal. While three are unknown, 7 have been identified. Five of these are alleged to be on the run, and two — including former MP Atiq Ahmed, also the prime suspect in the case — are currently in jail.
Umesh Pal was allegedly at the receiving end of an extortion bid by Atiq and his associates.
Atiq Ahmed
Currently lodged in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati jail, Atiq Ahmed is a gangster-turned-politician. The former MP has around 100 cases registered against him, said an Uttar Pradesh Police officer. Ahmed, police say, entered the world of crime when he was all of 17. The first case against him was for alleged murder, a police officer said.
Born in Prayagraj, Ahmed is the son of a tonga driver, Haji Feroz, and was raised in a family of limited means. He is said to have failed his Class 10, and police sources said his ambition to become wealthy led him into the world of crime.
Ahmed has been booked in cases involving a laundry list of crimes, including murder, extortion, and kidnapping.
A five-time state legislator, Ahmed stepped into politics in 1989, when he won the Allahabad West assembly seat. Contesting as an independent, he won the seat twice more — in 1991 and 1993. In 1996, he contested on a Samajwadi Party (SP) ticket and won again. In 1999, he joined the Apna Dal, and, in 2002, got another term in the assembly from the seat.
In light of the Umesh Pal case, Ahmed has moved the Supreme Court over fears that the UP Police may eliminate him in a “fake encounter”.
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Shaista Parveen
Daughter of a head constable, Parveen married Ahmed in 1980. The couple has five sons, two of whom — Umar Ahmed and Ali Ahmed — are behind bars in cases of alleged extortion. Parveen joined the BSP in January this year after she was assured a nomination for the mayoral elections.
She was earlier associated with the Hyderabad-based AIMIM. Parveen, police sources say, also faces four other cases of alleged cheating, fraud, murder, and criminal conspiracy.
According to UP Police sources, Parveen is alleged to have guided the criminals involved in the case.
In a letter to Uttar Pradesh CM, however, Parveen has pleaded innocence and alleged a conspiracy to frame her family in the Umesh Pal case, suggesting it might be a bid to sabotage her run in the mayoral election.
Khalid Azim
Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, the brother of Ahmed, is currently lodged in the Bareilly jail. In 2004, he lost the assembly election against Raju Pal.
The former Samajwadi Party MLA — who once carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head for being wanted in 53 cases, including those of alleged murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, rioting and extortion — was arrested from Shivkala Market in Prayagraj in 2020.
Allahabad was once known to be a fiefdom of Azim and Ahmed.
Asad
Asad, 21, is Ahmed’s son. Police sources said Asad is a DPS Lucknow passout who wanted to pursue higher studies abroad but couldn’t because his passport application was rejected owing to his father’s alleged criminal history.
Dejected, Asad turned to crime, the sources said. According to police sources, he has been identified in the video of Umesh Pal’s murder, where he is seen shooting. Asad is also said to be on the run.
Guddu Muslim
Known as a “bomb specialist”, Guddu is described by UP Police sources as an expert in making hand grenades. In the lanes of Chakia in Prayagraj, Guddu’s name is said to send jitters among residents.
Some local residents told ThePrint that when Guddu passes by, “nobody dares look at him or make eye contact”.
Police sources said Guddu — the youngest of four brothers in his family — once worked for Satyendra Singh, a history-sheeter who was killed in 1997. He later joined Mukhtar Ansari, the don-turned-politician, and worked for him before joining Ahmed’s gang.
The first FIR against Guddu was registered in 2016, in a case of alleged assault.
Guddu’s name first emerged in the Raju Pal case in 2007, when the BSP was in office in the state.
According to police, he had hurled bombs at Raju Pal the same way he allegedly did at Umesh Pal. In the CCTV footage of the latter crime, the police allege, Guddu can be seen hurling “desi” bombs at Pal. Guddu is said to have met his lover soon after the killing. The police are trying to find out the said lover, who is also alleged to be on the run.
“Guddu has expertise in making bombs. He can make hand grenades anywhere,” a senior police officer said. “For him, it’s a matter of 5 minutes. He is the right hand of Atiq Ahmed.”
Mohammad Ghulam
A law student active in student politics, he is now described as a gangster facing 8 FIRs, including for alleged murder and under the Arms Act. Ghulam used to live in a Muslim boarding house at Allahabad University, whose name has emerged in connection with the Umesh Pal case.
Police sources said the hostel was where the Umesh Pal murder conspirators met to decide their future course of action. Ghulam’s close friend Saddaqat, who was also a student of the university and stayed at the hostel, was arrested by the police days after the crime. The first FIR against Ghulam is believed to have been filed in 2013, and pertains to murder charges.
Arman
A native of Bihar, Arman was identified as one of the accused in the Umesh Pal case days after the FIR was registered. Arman is believed to be the one who drove Guddu Muslim to the scene of the crime on a bike.
Arman is said to have canvassed for Atiq Ahmed’s wife after she joined the BSP in January. Police sources said Arman is also a history-sheeter at the Civil Lines police station of Prayagraj.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)