Tag: Mafia In Uttar Pradesh

‘Yogi Govt’s Real Test Lies in Not Allowing New Mafia Dons to Breed’

By LokMarg

Madhup Kumar Pandey, a social worker in Prayagraj, says that though the end of Mafia duo Atiq and Ashraf was destined, the killing reflects the failure of city police. His views:

Organised criminals and gangs keep cropping up like water bubbles in Prayagraj; as also in various districts of Uttar Pradesh. However, after a certain period of lording over extortion rackets, such mafia dons meet a similar fate: either they get eliminated in police encounter or killed by their rivals. This is a cycle which I have witnessed throughout my life in this state.

But, the way Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were killed, live on camera and in full presence of police and media channels, is unprecedented in the history of Uttar Pradesh. Clearly, the killings must have been planned well in advance and the perpetrators were used as pawns. Their profile shows that they were mere puppets; the mastermind of this brazen act is still at large. This apparently shows the city police in poor light and raises questions about the real motive.

The murder mystery has also led to many conspiracy theories in the district. Some call it state handiwork in collusion with the police while many others are describing it as targeting of Muslim leaders by Yogi Adityanath government. Both such claims are laughable and politically motivated. It is well known that ever since coming to power, the Yogi administration has been aggressively handling with the mafia elements in the state; caste or religion have never been its concern. Vikas Dube and Ani Dujana are two glaring examples.

ALSO READ: ‘There Is Something Fishy About Atiq’s Killing’

As a Prayagraj citizen, I can safely tell you that local people are not unhappy about the killing. Mafia dons rule by spreading an atmosphere of fear in people; hence their elimination always brings a sigh of relief. What the media should question is how such criminals are allowed to prosper and thrive. Obviously, they cannot survive if the government of the day deals with them firmly.

Yogi administration has created an image where they are dealing firmly with mafia in the state. However, the real test of the Government will be that organized crime is not allowed to breed in the first place. That will reaffirm peoples’ faith in law and order.

There have been talks that after confiscating ₹11,000 crore worth of properties and assets of these mafias, the government is planning to return them back to the victims and persons from whom these assets were forcefully taken away. Apparently, this will be a tall order to fulfil but even if in some cases, such an example is set, it will only boost the image of Yogi Adityanath as an able and just administrator.

Eliminating criminals is the easy part. Re-establishing the rule of law, not allowing petty criminals to become organised mafia and bringing justice to the victims of organised crime are the touchstones where Yogi regime will need to prove its mettle.

As told to Rajat Rai

‘Mastermind of Atiq & Ashraf’s Murders Hiding Behind The Curtain’

By LokMarg

Suman, a senior journalist based in Lucknow, UP, says that the live-on-TV murders of Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf appear to be a scripted drama. Her views:

The murders of Atiq Ahmed and his brother are indeed uncannily strange and surprising. The young, amateur, unknown killers, from small towns in UP, were not using ‘tamanchas’ or ‘kataas’, the desi, country-made guns manufactured in the underground criminal network; they were using expensive, sophisticated, foreign pistols with expensive bullets. They don’t seem to be amateurs at all as the pistol was put on the ‘kanpati’ of Atiq and fired at point-blank range – they behaved like “seasoned assassins” who know their job.

How did they get together and hatch this plan, and execute it with such efficiency and precision, and with such daring, right under the nose of the armed UP police, if they happen to be such small-time criminals, and apparently not connected to each other or any organized mafia or gangsters’ group? Clearly, they were hired by someone – as fully-trained and cold-blooded ‘assassins’!

Surprisingly, except for the two brothers who got killed, nobody seems to have got injured as these killers fired several rounds! Not a single cop got injured, it seems! And why did the entire police force, which was giving security to Atiq, run away from the spot, instead of choosing to protect him, and retaliate against these ‘amateur’ killers? Not a single shot was apparently fired by the police! Despite the cops having run away, the killers said two things: Surrender and Jai Shri Ram! How much more eerie can this seemingly, scripted, script become!

And why were the brothers made to walk, surrounded by TV cameras and media in such close proximity, at 10.30 pm in the night? Why were they brought in for a health check-up late at night? This remains a troubling question, though the police can claim that there is no law to prohibit them about the hour they choose for a medical check-up. How did the killers come to know about this schedule and that the media would be around in such close proximity to Atiq and his brother?

ALSO WATCH: ‘If You Kill A Cop, You Destiny Is Clear’

The assassins look like puppets. Someone else, or, some others, are playing them from behind the curtain, it seems. There are reports that the motorcycle in which they arrived had a fake number plate. A prominent TV channel said that this bike was owned by the police. There was huge security in the funeral of Asad, Atiq’s 18-year-old son, who, too, was shot dead in an encounter earlier – that was the 183rd encounter in UP under the current regime. So, if they could organise such massive security for his funeral, why did they not do the same in the case of Atiq, who was in the custody of the UP police after being taken out of the Sabarmati Jail in Gujarat? Ashraf was brought from Bareily jail. The judiciary had sent them to police remand, isn’t it?

The ADG (Law and Order) of UP had earlier said that there is a danger that Atiq can be freed in UP by his gangster friends, while he is on the road under police custody. Atiq himself had expressed the fear that he could be murdered. Surely, this murder has a striking similarity with the earlier ‘encounter’ of Vikas Dubey in UP.

Besides, look at the reaction of the ministers of the BJP-led government in  UP. One minister, Swatantra Deo Singh, known to be close to the current chief minister, said in a tweet that “paap aur punya ka hisaab isi duniya mein hota hain…” meaning that sin and good acts get their due in this world itself. Another minister said that this was divine intervention – an “aasmani” act.

So, who will benefit from these brazen, cold-blooded murders (and other encounters) in UP, under the auspices of the UP police, and, which, apparently, seems a well-planned, thought-out and stage-managed murders in full public view with live TV cameras?

There is a section of population in UP which believes that courts are taking too long to provide justice, that bahubalis, dons and the mafia is getting away under the due process of law, that there should be ‘quick justice’ and that this is indeed a very good trend. After the murders, there crackers were burst and sweets were distributed in some places, it has been reported. They really care a damn for the due process of law, or the values and doctrines of a society based on democracy and the Indian Constitution. This section seems to be aligned with the current dispensation – and their views, and joy, clearly, makes the current establishment in UP and India – extremely happy.

As told to Amit Sengupta