Former gangster and politician Atiq Ahmed, who had over 100 criminal cases against him, was shot dead while in police custody in Prayagraj.

Atiq Ahmed, a gangster-turned-politician from Uttar Pradesh, India, was shot dead by assailants while in police custody on Saturday night. His brother Ashraf was also killed in the incident. Ahmed, who had over 100 cases registered against him, had recently been sentenced to life imprisonment in a 2007 case. He had previously won five consecutive terms as an MLA before becoming an MP in 2004. Ahmed was the first person to have been booked under Uttar Pradesh’s Gangster Act in 2013. He had been accused of murder since 1979 and was charge-sheeted in connection with the 2005 Raju Pal murder case, in which a witness was killed earlier this year. Ahmed contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi while in jail but lost.