Property of politician-gangster Atiq ahmed got transferred...

The Uttar Pradesh government seized property in Prayagraj that belonged to deceased gangster-turned-politician Atiq ahmed and was allegedly obtained with proceeds from illegal operations for almost ₹50 crore. district government Advocate (Criminal), Gulab Chandra Agrahari, claims that after receiving the money through illegal means, Atiq registered 2.377 hectares of land under the name Hoobalal, a mason. PTI further claims that Atiq pledged to transfer the title of the land into his own name if necessary. In november 2023, the cops confiscated this land.

Agrahari claims that they were given a three-month window to respond before the police Commissioner court seized the property in accordance with Section 14(1) of the Gangsters Act. However, no proof of ownership was provided. The police Commissioner court then forwarded the case to the gangster court in Prayagraj. Judge vinod kumar Chaurasia deemed the police commissioner's actions "fair and just" on Tuesday, and the property was formally turned over to the state.

DCP (city) deepak Bhuker informed Times of india after the court's ruling: "On July 15, the Prayagraj gangster court ordered the state government to accept the benami property of deceased gangster Atiq ahmed at Kathula Gauspur hamlet for the first time. Atiq's benami property, worth crores of rupees, was seized by the Prayagraj police on november 6, 2023, using the Gangsters Act in the Kathula Gauspur hamlet in Sadar tehsil. While investigating a case against Atiq under the Gangsters Act, authorities claimed to have discovered that he was the owner of the property in Hooblal's name in the airport police station area. During questioning, Hooblal acknowledged that he had nothing to do with the land and that Atiq had forced him to register it in his name in 2015.  Atiq and his brother Ashraf, who were involved in over 100 criminal cases, including Umesh Pal's murder case, were shot and died on april 15, of last year.