‘Qaidi number D17052’ is the new identity of dreaded gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed who — in a criminal career spanning 44 years and over 120 cases — was convicted for the first time on Tuesday and awarded life term for the 2006 abduction of now-deceased Umesh Pal, who was the prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal.
This is perhaps not the only change the dreaded UP mafia will be subjected to. Officials with Sabarmati Central Jail said after conviction, Ahmed’s life in jail would not be the same.
“Atiq is not an under trial anymore and hence he will be treated as a convict. Of the many things, allocation of a number is perhaps the main thing, which is done after conviction. Atiq’s number is ‘D17052’, which is his new identity in jail,” JS Chavda, jail superintendent of Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, told News18.
‘D17052’ is the second ‘numerical identity’ of Ahmed whose gang comprising 179 members — including his relatives are henchmen — was identified as IS 227 in Prayagraj Police records.
Other than allocation of a ‘qaidi number’, Ahmed was given the jail’s uniform — a white kurta-pajama and cap — which is mandatory for all the convicts as per jail manual. “Atiq will no more have the liberty to wear a waist coat, black-coloured kurta pajama and his trademark cloth (gamchha) wrapped around his head — the attire in which he was seen recently. Now he has to wear the jail uniform,” an official added.
Apart from this, the gangster will also be relocated to the convicts’ cell. “Basically, the entire Sabarmati Jail is divided into two sections — one for under trials and the other for convicts. Atiq, whose RTPCR report is awaited, will be transferred to the high-security zone of the cells meant for convicts,” the official further said.
Other than these, the official said working is also a must for the convicts. “Basically, there are three main divisions that include carpentry, mechanic and tailoring, where the convicts are engaged. The non-skilled convicts get Rs 70 a day for non-skilled work, Rs 80 a day for semi-skilled and Rs 100 a day for the skilled convicts. However, those prisoners who are non-skilled and have age issues are engaged in cleanliness activities. In the case of Atiq, it is yet to be decided which division he would be attached to.”
Recollecting Ahmed’s terror, senior lawyer Rohit Kant, who hails from Lucknow, said the gangster was notorious even when he was behind bars. It is said that Ahmed would hold a personal court during his days in jail.
Kant recalled the kidnapping of a Lucknow-based realtor named Mohit Jaiswal that was reported on December 28, 2018. In the case, Jaiswal was kidnapped from outside his office in Lucknow’s Alambagh area and taken to Deoria jail, around 400 kilometres from Lucknow, where Ahmed was lodged then.
“Jaiswal’s FIR against Atiq states that he was dragged inside the jail where the gangster held a court in presence of local jail authorities. The realtor was then tortured and forced to sign some documents related to the transfer of five of his properties in the name of Atiq’s aides,” said Kant.
On his recent visit to Prayagraj, Ahmed was heard saying ‘Kaahe Ka Darr’ while responding to a reporter who asked if he was scared when his convoy halted in Madhya Pradesh’s Shivpuri on the borders of UP. However, after conviction, the clout of the dreaded gangster will not be the same in jail, said officials.
On March 28, the UP mafia — who was brought to Prayagraj court in connection with the kidnapping case Umesh Pal, a prime witness in the 2005 murder case of BSP MLA Raju Pal — left for Sabarmati Jail after he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the 2006 kidnapping case.
Ahmed is the main accused in the 2005 murder case and was recently booked after Umesh Pal was shot dead in Prayagraj on February 24, 2023.
Ahmed has been lodged in Sabarmati Jail since June 2019 after the Supreme Court, in April that year, directed the authorities to shift him to a high-security prison in Gujarat since he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of a businessman while in jail.
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