“Hatya, hatya (murder, murder),” proclaimed gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed after stepping out of the Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad as he was being taken away to Prayagraj by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday. He expressed fear that he might be murdered in an encounter.

Earlier this morning, a team of the Uttar Pradesh police reached the Sabarmati jail and left the premises with Ahmed amid tight security around 6 pm after completing the necessary formalities.

As reporters gathered around him while officers carried him to the police van, the former Samajwadi Party MP said, "Mujhe inka programme maloom hai (I know their programme)... Hatya karna chahte hain (They want to murder me)." He said he may be killed the same way gangster Vikas Dubey was killed.

History sheeter Vikas Dubey was killed in a police encounter in July 2020 during an attempt to arrest him and his men. Eight policemen were killed in the shootout, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), while seven police personnel were left injured.

Meanwhile, Ahmed also claimed that the car might be “overturned”, alleging a staged accident, on the way to the court hearing in UP.

A former Samajwadi Party MP, Atiq Ahmed has been lodged in the Sabarmati central jail since June 2019. He was shifted there from his home state as per the Supreme Court's order.

The Supreme Court had in April 2019 directed that the former MP from Phulpur in UP be shifted to a high-security jail in Gujarat after he was accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and assault of a real estate businessman Mohit Jaiswal while in jail. He is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case, police said.

Ahmed is expected to be produced before a court in Prayagraj on March 28 when it passes an order in a kidnapping case in which he is an accused, officials said. According to reports, he will seek sentencing by video conference in the kidnapping case, as he fears his death.
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