Atique Ahmed

Atique Ahmed (born 10 August 1962) is an Indian criminal-politician^[1][2][3]. In 2004-2009, he was an SP member of the 14th Lok Sabha from the Phulpur (Lok Sabha Constituency) in Uttar Pradesh. From 1999-2003 he was the president of the Apna Dal, founded by Sone Lal Patel.^[4]

According to his affidavit in 2014 elections, he has declared that there are 42 cases pending against him, including 6 charges of murder, and 6 for attempted murder, and 4 of kidnapping and abduction.^[5] The most sensational murder was that of BSP MLA Raju Pal, who had defeated Atique's brother Ashraf in the 2004 Uttar Pradesh state legislature elections.

Ahmed has fought several elections from jail, lodged under various charges.^[6][7] On 15 December 2016, he was arrested once again for assaulting staff of the Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences.^[8]

2009 General Elections

In the 2009 General Elections, Aatiq Ahmad was allowed to run for election (since he was yet to be convicted in any case).^[9] However, the Samajwadi Party had expelled him in 2008, and Mayawati refused him a ticket under BSP,^[10] so he stood from the Apna Dal party from Pratapgarh, but he lost (ranked fourth).^[11]

Elections in 2012 and 2014

In Uttar Pradesh Elections 2012, Ahmed fought under the Apna Dal banner from the Allahabad (West) constituency. He filed his nomination from jail.^[12] He had appealed for bail but 10 judges of the Allahabad High Court refused to hear the case. The 11th judge finally took up the matter and he was released on bail before the Elections.^[6] However, the seat went to Raju Pal's widow, Puja Pal.

In 2014, he was taken back into the Samajwadi Party and fought the National Elections from the Shrawasti (Lok Sabha constituency). He managed to secure a quarter of the votes, but lost by nearly a lakh votes to Daddan Mishra of the BJP.

Controversies

SHUATS assault case

On December 14, 2016, Atiq and his henchmen had allegedly assaulted the staff members of Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences for taking action against two students who were debarred from taking examination after they were caught cheating. The video of Atiq Ahmad beating the SHUATS teacher and employees was widely circulated on the internet. On February 10, 2017, the Allahabad High Court summoned the criminal history of Atiq and also directed the Superintendent of police of Allahabad to arrest all the accused in the case. The police arrested Atiq on February 11 after which he was remanded to 14-day judicial custody.^[13] He is currently lodged in Naini jail.

References

1. ↑ "Uttar Pradeshs first gangster Ateeq Ahmad is SPs poll candidate". Retrieved 2017-01-16. 
2. ↑ "Mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed gets bail - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2017-01-16. 
3. ↑ "VIDEO: Mafia Don Atique Ahmed convoy creates traffic jam in Allahabad-Kanpur Highway". Retrieved 2017-01-16. 
4. ↑ Official biographical sketch, Parliament of India website
5. ↑ http://myneta.info/ls2014/candidate.php?candidate_id=8313
6. 1 2 Aditi Phadnis (12 February 2012). "Allahabad a challenge for Congress, BSP". Business Standard. 
7. ↑ Arun Chaubey (May 2007). "All with 'shades' least are 'white'". ZeAtique. Archived from the original on 14 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-13. 
8. ↑ http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/lucknow/sp-candidate-atiq-ahmed-booked-mayawati-takes-a-swipe-at-akhilesh-yadav-4428915/
9. ↑ http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/web1/09may22/national.htm%5B%5D
10. ↑ "Rebels galore in Uttar Pradesh phase-II". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 23 April 2009. 
11. ↑ election results 2009 Pratapgarh
12. ↑ "Atique Ahmed files nomination from jail". Indian Express. 24 Jan 2012. 
13. ↑ http://m.hindustantimes.com/lucknow/allahabad-hc-reserves-verdict-in-shuats-assault-case/story-yqPG3TV3oWq44HuRZy6yzM.html