Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Sunday stated that Atiq Ahmed was killed as a result of a ‘media trial’. The SP leader also praised the gangster-turned-politician by saying that the latter won elections and was never convicted in any single case except the Umesh Pal kidnapping case.
Speaking to reporters, the Samajwadi Party leader said, “Atiq Ahmed was killed because of the media trial. Out of the cases that have been mentioned against Ahmed, he was convicted in only one. Atiq was not convicted in any other case, not even in a single case. Every day, hundreds of (fake) cases are filed against people. So the numbers just go up.”
Adding further he said, “Atiq Ahmed won as an independent MLA in 1989, 1991 and 1993. In 1995 or 1996, he won as an MLA from SP and then as an MP in the 14th Lok Sabha. It is not like criminals win elections. He won for a record 3 times as an independent candidate.”
He justified some of Ahmed’s actions by saying that “sometimes some things happen”. Yadav also stated that there are people “who are sitting at big positions and kill 10-15 people by using bombs” but no one terms them gangsters.
Earlier on Monday, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav used “Ji” (a suffix placed after a person’s name or title as a mark of respect) for Atiq. “UP mein agar aap dekho jo hua toh ye Atiq ji ka janaza nahi hai, UP mein kanoon ka janaza nikla hai (What happened in UP was not the funeral procession of Atiq Ahmed ‘Ji’ but that of law and order in UP),” he told reporters.
Atiq Ahmed killed
On April 15, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf, who were under the custody of the Uttar Pradesh police, were being taken to the hospital in Prayagraj for a medical checkup when they were fatally shot at close range. Three gunmen disguised themselves as journalists to carry out the attack. Notably, all three shooters have been sent to 14-day judicial custody on the order of a Prayagraj court.
