The killing of Atiq Ahmed - UP mafia don

The killing of Atiq Ahmed, a well known mafia don and gangster from UP didn't surprise me. A volley of bullets came from close range in darkness from the guns of two assailants posing as TV reporters resulting in the killing of Atiq and his brother. He was known to be close to a lot of politicians, bureaucrats and like all mafia bosses cultivated connection with law enforcement agencies, having friends in police at right places. There goes the popular dialogue in Bollywood movies, "POLICE KE SAATH JYADA DOSTI YA DUSHMANI ACHHI NAHI HAI" - it is  unwise to get too friendly or inimical to police. He became way too much of a liability, too powerful for his boots for police and politicians, hence was shown the door of hell in the darkness, ironically in the Muslim holy month of Ramzan.

Only a couple of days ago the son of don Atiq Ahmed's was killed too in another encounter staged by the police. The gangster had killed way too many people in his decade long criminal career. He was always kept well informed by his moles inside the police and was patronaged by many unscupulous politicians. But Karma is a bitch which bids its time, catching one off guard at the most inopportune moment. In Atiq Ahmed's case it was no different.

I had predicted long ago that a prominent Muslim gangster (UP has tons of them) will be eliminated before the last assembly elections in UP.  But it was procrastinated for more than a year, with exactly a year left before the Parliament elections is scheduled ahead in April, 2024. It's right time to got for a kill, kill a few Muslim gangsters in electorally important state of UP which provides nearly 20% of the total number of seats to the Parliament in state known to be highly polarized on caste and communal lines.

Watch out for more such killings on the roads leading to the elections, especially of Muslim gangsters. Unlike killing of ordinary Muslims which could cost the support moderate and secular Hindus, killing a gangster from the minority community may not be too risky of an act, as it could help BJP consolidate its base in the all important state of Uttar Pradesh. A classic political ploy of BJP in play right now.

This is not the first time such an incident has happened in the lawless cow belt of North India. Last year a criminal named Vikas Dubey was shot and killed by another staged encounter by the police when he was on run after killing 9 cops. The list is long in the badlands of the gangetic belt. In the year 1999, a dreaded gangster of UP named Sriprakash Shukla was killed too. The don was famous as contract killer who operated with impunity in UP and Bihar. He was a thorough professional in his job - after shooting his victim, he would get close and pump more bullets to the victim's head and chest, ensuring his contract is completed without any dead end. The inept and corrupt authorities not only slept, the powerful Brahmin lobby protected him.

(Casteism is rampant in North India. While working in Delhi I found my ex-boss, one Sharma Jee being over friendly towards me.  One day I discovered the reason as he told me on face - "TUM BRAHMAN HO, IS LIYE SAF SUTRE LAGTE HO. TUMHARE CHEHRE MEIN JO CHAMAK HAI, "You are Brahmin. That's why you look clean, there is a glare in your looks". I didn't find it very flattering).

Sriprakash Shukla's days were numbered when the information came out that he has taken a contract of Rupess 2 crore (20 million), a sizable amount in 1999 to kill Kalyan Singh, then the Chief Minister of UP. That was the last straw for the cops to smell the coffee and wake up. He, like many mafia dons had a weakness for women. The police got scent of him entering a 5 star hotel in Delhi with a call girl in company. After his tryst with the girl, his destiny awaited him outside. The task force to eliminate him waited patiently outside the hotel and grabbed him as he came out after finishing his assignment. It was the last sex of his life. He was soon finished by the police and his body was dumped near the NOIDA expressway staged as an encounter. 

Indian Police can't even visit the toilet without the Neta's (politican) permission, forget about staging encounters. The top administration of the state must have given the sanctions to get rid of him. It was bound to happen sooner or later as the gangster went too far. It was just a matter of time he would be eliminated - partly due to keep his mouth shut lest it would be embarrassing for many if he opened it. Other reason - if not killed, it will deeply affect the moral of police, not to forget the political angle I mentioned above.

Yet if the social media is to be believed, not many are shedding tear for Atiq Ahmed. Not that they love police, but their utter lack of confidence in our law and judiciary system makes the encounters a much attractive as well as pragmatic option. In Hindi they say "NA RAHEGA BAAS, NA BAJEGI BANSURI" - there won't be any bamboo left, so also no flute made out of it will play. In other words, eliminate the root cause in order to prevent it from happening again. A dead gangster is better than an alive one, as in this case. All want instance justice, as everyone has lost their faith and patience long time ago for long, procedural trials.

In the feudal set up of North India, this is certainly not going to be one last such an incident. This culture will thrive in the environment of poverty, unemployment, politician - bureaucrat - mafia nexus for long time. Public memory is extremely short. This incident will be forgotten soon as media will move to something more attractive and appealing, until the next one...