When Atiq Ahmed tried to grab property of Sonia Gandhi's relative

Yet another story of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed's land-grabbing act has come to light. He was once accused of trying to snatch a property of UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's relative in Prayagraj.

The incident occurred in 2017 when Atiq set his eyes on the property of Veera Gandhi, a relative of Sonia's father-in-law Feroz Gandhi, according to a report in The Times of India.

Atiq Ahmed was an MP from Samajwadi Party from Phulpur constituency and had tried to grab a property behind Palace Theater which was located on MG Marg in Civil Lines area of Prayagraj.

Reportedly, the gangster-turned-politician had purchased land from one one Asthana family and forcibly acquired Veera Gandhi's property through his henchmen.

Sources told the daily that Veera Gandhi approached local administration to get his property back but it was of no help as they could not take action against Atiq Ahmed. Finally, she approached Sonia for help.

Sonia Gandhi was the chairperson of the UPA then and she directed Rita Bahuguna Joshi, Congress' leader in Prayagraj, who intervened and helped Veera Gandhi to get back his property.

"Atiq was extremely greedy when it came to real estate. He had grabbed several properties in the city but had to pull back in the case of Veera Gandhi," the daily quoted IG, Lalji Shukla, who was the SP City in Prayagraj in 2001-03, as saying.

However, Veera Gandhi sold his properties and shifted to Mumbai. "Sonia Gandhi did call me up and asked to intervene following which I called the district administration and consequently Atiq pulled back in that case," Rita Bahuguna Joshi said.

Last Saturday, Atiq and his brother Ashraf were killed at point-blank range while in police custody by three men posing as journalists. It came two days after his son Azad Ahmed was killed in an encounter in Jhansi.

Meanwhile, Shaista Parveen, Atiq's wife and known as the godmother in his gang, is on a run and she carries a reward of Rs 50,000 on her head.