*Punished for first time in 43 years, despite 100 cases against him
Prabhat Ranjan Deen
PRAYAGRAJ (UP), Mar 28. What did not happen in the last 43 years became possible today. Awarded rigorous life imprisonment by the MP-MLA Court in the Umesh Pal kidnapping case, the notorious Mafia don Ateeq Ahmed, who had never been punished in any case despite having been accused in hundred cases, would now have to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Ateeq has been involved in several serious cases, including murder, kidnapping, rioting, extortion, loot, dacoity and illegal land grabbing.
The punishment is an example for the whole country, because during Samajwadi Party’s rule, the same Ateeq Ahmed roamed around freely, giving the impression to the common man that the road of law ended even before the entry gate to his dwelling. The area where he breathed appeared to suggest that it was a forbidden area for police, court and justice. Things had reached such a passé that mafia and gangsters had a respectable community in the state.
But the Yogi Government showed the mafia its right place. For the first time, the fear of Government and law was visible on Ateeq’s face. The people of the country and the state have also seen that when there is better coordination between the prosecution and the police and it is coupled with effective lobbying in the court, no matter how big a criminal is, he cannot escape the legal dragnet.
It is noteworthy that a total of 11 persons including Ateeq were accused in the 17-year-old case of which one has already died. The MP-MLA court started hearing the 2007 case on Tuesday morning. Around two o’clock, Judge Dinesh Chandra Shukla gave his verdict. He imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on Ateeq Ahmed, Dinesh Pasi and Khana Shaulat Hanif while awarding them life imprisonment. Seven other accused, including Ateeq’s brother Ashraf, were acquitted.
On hearing the verdict of the MP-MLA court, Ateeq started crying. He also hugged his brother Ashraf. Seeing Ateeq begging in front of the law like this will give relief not only to Umesh Pal’s family, but all those families that have suffered because of the gangster, and who had been rubbing their heels in the hope of justice for more than four decades.
There was a time in the SP Government when cases against this mafia were withdrawn. SP leaders used to share stage with Ateeq on public forums and he used to contest elections on their party’s symbol. Ateeq had become an example of the nexus between politicians and the mafia. It is the result of CM Yogi’s zero tolerance policy towards crimes and criminals that the impregnable fort of the mafia, once considered above law, has crumbled today, making the mafia and its supporters agitated and nervous.
Ateeq and his two associates were convicted in the case of kidnapping of Umesh Pal; a witness to the murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal. Umesh Pal was abducted 17 years ago on February 28, 2006, by Ateeq and his henchmen allegedly to change his testimony. Pal was tortured and forced to give affidavits to change their testimonies.
Once freed by them, Umesh Pal reached the police and got a case registered against the gangster and his henchmen in this regard. Today, the court, while hearing, sentenced Ateeq and other two accused to rigorous life imprisonment under Section- 364-A/34, Section- 120-B, 147, 323/149, 341, 342, 504, 506.
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