No “Robin Hood,” slain mafia don Atiq Ahmed revealed ISI, Lashkar terror links during interrogation

During his interrogation prior to his murder on Saturday, mafia don Atiq Ahmed revealed his links with Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and top terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The FIR on his killing shows that Atiq Ahmed had confessed to his direct connections with ISI and LeT, headed by Hafez Sayeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks.

In his confession, Ahmed points out that Pakistanis drop weapons on Punjab border using drones. Then people connected with ISI collect these arms and distribute them among LeT terrorists and Khalistani terrorist organizations. Some weapons such as .45 Bore pistols, AK-47s, sten guns and RDX were supplied to Atiq Ahmed directly.

“I made payments for these weapons and people belonging to these organizations. These people used to visit him often and through their conversations I got to know that they were planning to do something big in the country. I know one person from ISI who dealt in arms and from whom I procured weapons to kill Umesh Pal and his guards,” Atiq Ahmed told the police, the FIR states.

His Pakistani connection also became apparent in Atiq and brother Ashraf’s detailed questioning on April 15. It is then that two mafia dons, who were killed on the same day by rival gang, revealed location of weapons used for killing Umesh Pal.  Consequently, one .45 bore pistol, one .32 bore pistol, 58 live cartridges of two different bores were recovered. The ammunition included five 9mm cartridges made in Pakistan’s ordnance factory.

No Robin Hood by far, the criminal history of Atiq Ahmed and his family is rich and long. In fact, 102 cases have been filed against Ahmed, which include heinous crimes such as murder attempts, and kidnapping. On three occasions, the gangster act was invoked against him.

Ahmed is known to have been running his criminal empire even when he was lodged in different jails in Uttar Pradesh. The first complaint was filed against him in 1979, and as many as 54 cases have been heard so far in different police stations.

The criminal history runs through the family.  Ahmed’s eldest son Mohammad Umar is accused of kidnapping businessman Mohit Jaiswal. After Rs 2 lakh reward was announced on his name, Umar surrendered in August 2022. He was in charge of collecting ransoms after his father was jailed in 2017, according to a report published in OpIndia website.

Ashraf Sheikh, alias Khalid Azim, Atiq Ahmed’s younger brother, was named as an accused in the murder of Umesh Pal. He was charged of planning the conspiracy. Ashraf was also an accused in the murder of Raju Pal. A total of 52 cases were filed against him.

Mohammad Ali, Atiq’s second-eldest is facing six pending criminal charges. Ali also turned himself in in July 2022 after police announced a reward of 50 thousand on him. Apparently, he handled extortion outside the jail in the absence of Atiq and his brother Ashraf Ahmed, who were behind bars.

Asad Ahmed, the third son of Atiq Ahmed, who was killed by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in an encounter in Jhansi along with his bodyguard Ghulam Muhammad were wanted for the murder of Umesh Pal and had a bounty of Rs 5 lakh on them.

The list of criminality runs long, and includes the names of Shaista Parveen, Atiq’s wife, who has four criminal cases are registered against her.

Also Read: Mafia dons Atiq and brother Ashraf killed in gang retaliation