Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, who is an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, thanked the media on Wednesday for “keeping him safe" and said that he is alive because of them. Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, while being taken to Prayagraj from Sabarmati Jail on Wednesday, thanked the media and said that he is safe because of them. Atiq is an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case. When asked by the media if he was scared, he replied, “aap logo ka shukriya (thanks to all of you).” “It's because of you (the media) that I am safe,” said the gangster. The gangster was also asked about his family’s whereabouts and his involvement in the Umesh Pal murder case to which he said, "My family has been ruined...I was in jail what will I know about it (Umesh Pal murder case)." Atiq Ahmed further added, “I will convey to the government through you that I have already been buried in the ground (metaphorically), what else I can do now. Please keep my family away.” Responding to a question about Asad, he said, "How would I know where Asad is, I was in jail." Atiq Ahmed is being taken to Uttar Pradesh's Prayagraj from Sabarmati jail on Wednesday. The mafia is being brought to Prayagraj amid tight police security under a production warrant after the consent of the court in a murder case. ATIQ CONVICTED IN 2006 KIDNAPPING CASE An MP-MLA court on March 28 held gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and two others guilty in the 2006 Umesh Pal kidnapping case and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Ahmed's brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf and six others were acquitted in the case. Ahmed has been lodged in the Sabarmati Jail since June 2019 after the Supreme Court in April that year directed that the former MP from Phulpur in UP be shifted to a high-security facility in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault on a real estate businessman, Mohit Jaiswal, while lodged in a prison in the northern state. The former Samajwadi Party legislator is named in more than 100 criminal cases, and recently he was listed as an accused in the killing of Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2006 BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case.
