5 illegal structures of Atiq Ahmad’s close relative razed

PRAYAGRAJ: In yet another action against jailed mafia don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and his associates, a joint team of police, district administration and Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA) on Friday razed five illegal structures spread over 5,000 square-meter land at Mehdauri locality under the limits of Shivkuti police station.
The houses were constructed by Atiq close relative and former Allahabad University Student Union (AUSU) office-bearer Hamza Usman, and the structures were constructed on state land, said SP (City) Dinesh Kumar Singh.
He said a joint team of police, local administration and PDA along with heavy police force on Friday morning reached the site and initiated the process of razing all five illegal structures, which were reduced to rubble by the evening.
He further said that the houses were illegally built on ‘state land’ and belonged to Atiq’s close relative Hamza.
A senior PDA official, meanwhile, said: “As many as five houses were constructed on state land but had no doors or windows. It seems the land grabbers had planned to sell the properties.”
The district administration had last month issued a notice regarding the illegal constructions on state land, but no one came forward to receive it.
Police have also initiated the process of attaching three other properties, including a cold storage, owned by Atiq in Katra of Jhunsi in the trans-Ganga area. As the cold storage was constructed on an encroached plot, police were in the process of shifting over 23,000 sacks of potatoes to another cold storage in the Sahsoo area before beginning the process of attachment.
Three days back, the district magistrate had directed the police officials to attach three properties owned by Atiq at Katra area under the Gangster Act.
A joint team of police and revenue department had attached five properties worth Rs 7 crore owned by ex-block pramukh and gangster Dilip Mishra at Lavayan village under the Industrial Area police station late on Thursday night under the Gangster Act.
The joint team of police and revenue department on Friday also started the process to attach fields owned by Dilip Mishra at Tikuri and Devrakh villages under the limits of Naini police station.
The DM had ordered to attach as many as 12 properties owned by Dilip Mishra in Karchana, Naini and Industrial Area.