Atiq Ahmed (10 August 1962 – 15 April 2023) was a notorious Indian gangster turned politician[2][3][4] and history-sheeter.
[5] He served as a member of the Indian Parliament and the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Samajwadi Party.
[8][9] As of March 2023, the Uttar Pradesh Police had seized properties worth ₹11,684 crore (US$1.3 billion) belonging to Ahmed and his family.
In 2004, Ahmed was elected as the Lok Sabha Member of Parliament for Phulpur, after which he resigned from his MLA seat in Allahabad.
[22][23] In 2007, he was expelled from SP after he provided protection to men with allegations of rape in a madrasa and the massive outcry caused by the event.
[26] Ahmed contested the 2012 Uttar Pradesh elections under the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) banner for the Allahabad (West) constituency.
[17] In his early days, Ahmed worked closely with other notorious members of the criminal organization in Allahabad namely Chand Baba.
[17] In 2004, Ahmed vacated the Allahabad West MLA seat in order to serve as an MP from Phulpur as a member of SP.
In his place, his younger brother Khalid Azim contested the by-elections and lost to a BSP candidate, Raju Pal.
In 2005, Raju Pal was shot dead and Khalid Azim was able to win the next by-elections and obtain the MLA seat.
[41] On 13 April 2023, Ahmed's son, Asad, was killed in an encounter in Jhansi by the Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF).
They were surrounded by police personnel, following which they made a last attempt to escape, while chanting the slogan "Jai Shri Ram".
"[51] A Supreme Court bench noted that despite the presence of 5-10 people guarding Ahmed and his brother, they were shot dead, and commented that "someone is complicit".