On April 15, 2023, Atique Ahmed (60yrs) and Ashraf were shot dead amid police presence. Just two days before, Atique’s son Asad, who was wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, was encountered during action in Jhansi by Uttar Pradesh Police. Atique, a mafia-turned-politician had more than 100 criminal cases registered against him who entered the world of crime from stealing coal from trains and selling it for profit to abduction and murder. Atique’s name can be seen in the three notorious names from the world of local crime. With him being assassinated now Uttar Pradesh in all aspects be it polity, or economy got rid of him.
Uttar Pradesh, a state with the largest population, also has a vast number of gangsters, some even politically protected and allowed to contest elections. In the 1980s these gangs were almost successfully wiped out, still due to the open political patronage, the urban mafia is not yet eradicated completely.
In the 2017 elections when Yogi Adityanath from BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh, he pledged to crack down on criminals and reform the criminal justice system. After he became the Chief Minister, he has taken several steps to fight against the mafia in the state. Initiatives like the formation of a Special Task Force (STF) which is headed by the Additional Director General of Police and is equipped with the latest technology and resources to effectively carry out its operations successfully, the establishment of Anti-land Mafia Task Force to take actions against illegal land grabbing and encroachments, demolition of illegal properties including those owned by the mafia, arrests of Mafia members where the Yogi Adityanath government has been making arrests of mafia members across the state and in these ways several prominent Mafia leaders have been arrested and put behind bars.
According to the U.P. police, 183 alleged criminals have been gunned down in encounters in the last six years. More than 10,900 police encounters have taken place since March 2017.
Yogi Adityanath, days after the assassination of mafia brothers Atique Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed by three gunmen in the presence of policemen and media, said that “Now mafia cannot threaten anyone in Uttar Pradesh”. The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government is set to tighten the noose around infamous criminals and their minions imprisoned across the state.