Atiq’s lawyer met ‘mystery woman’ in Lucknow over sale of a benami property

Slain mafioso-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s lawyer Vijay Mishra, who was reportedly picked up from Lucknow and then handed over to Prayagraj police, met a woman associated with Atiq’s family at a Lucknow-based hotel on Saturday, said people aware of the development.

The lawyer has been arrested in connection with the daylight murder of lawyer Umesh Pal and his two police guards in Prayagraj on February 24. Mishra is accused of sharing Umesh Pal’s location to six assailants -- led by Atiq Ahmad’s aide Guddu Muslim -- from the court.

A senior police official associated with the investigation has said that there was information about the presence of a woman along with the lawyer. He also stated that the woman was linked to the case and Atiq Ahmad’s family.

Another person privy to the development said as per the input, Vijay Mishra had reached the Lucknow hotel, which is located barely 500 metres from U.P. Special Task Force (STF) headquarters under Vibhuti Khand police station limits, to meet this ‘mystery woman’.

He said the meeting was scheduled to sell a ‘Benami property’, a term used for illegal transactions where the real owner or buyer remains anonymous and the real owner is replaced by a substitute who merely lends his name to generate some funds. The property was allegedly being sold for the benefit of absconding family members of Atiq Ahmad and his younger brother Khalid Azeem (alias Ashraf).

Also read: Atiq Ahmad's sister seeks custody of slain gangster's sons lodged in Child Protection Home

Earlier, on April 15, the two brothers -- Atiq and Ashraf -- were shot dead by three youths with petty criminal background. The incident took place outside a Prayagraj-based hospital when the mafia brothers were in police custody. Several media persons and others were also present on the spot.

The official said that several speculations are being made about the mystery woman present with the lawyer. “If we think of women linked to the case and Atiq Ahmad’s family, then five names pop up -- Atiq’s wife Shaishta Parveen, Ashraf’s wife Zainab, Atiq’s sister Ayesha Noorie, and Ayesha’s two daughters. All five women disappeared as their role started surfacing into different criminal conspiracies, he added.

Significantly, Atiq’s wife was accused of being part of Umesh Pal’s murder conspiracy and she even carries a reward of ₹50,000 on her head while Ayesha Noori and Zainab have also been made an accused for helping and sheltering six assailants, who eliminated Umesh Pal, however, no cash reward has been declared on their arrests so far.

The police have even declared a reward of ₹5 lakh each on three assailants -- including Guddu Muslim, Sabir and Arman -- who were allegedly involved in Umesh Pal’s killing. They are still out of the police net. The trio was among the six assailants who are visible in CCTV footages that had gone viral on social media after Umesh Pal’s sensational murder.

Four more accused -- including Atiq’s third eldest son Asad, Atiq close aides Ghulam Hasan, Vijay Choudhary (aka Usman), and one Arbaaz -- were killed in police encounters following the sensational Umesh Pal murder.