Prayagraj: A joint team of Prayagraj Development Authority (PDA), police and district administration on Sunday demolished two houses belonging to jailed don and former MP Atiq Ahmed’s key aides at Mariydeeh and Begum Sarai (Dhoomanganj, GT road) area in the city.
The joint team first razed the house of Abid Pradhan, a key member of Atiq Ahmad’s gang, at Mariydeeh in the afternoon.
The two-storey house was constructed illegally by Abid Pradhan on 600 square yards without getting the map sanctioned from the agency concerned. The huge house was estimated to be worth Rs 4 crore. The joint team reached Mariydeeh and started the demolition work while heavy deployment of police was made to tackle any untoward incident.
Dhoomanganj police, said more than two dozen criminal cases were registered against Abid Pradhan in different police stations of the city and this was his second house that has been bulldozed by the development authority.
PDA (Zonal Officer) Sat Shukla told TOI that apart from Abid Pradhan’s illegal house, the joint team of PDA, police and district administration also bulldozed the farmhouse jointly belonging to one Mohd Muslim and Akbar at Begum Sarai, Bamrauli (GT road) in Dhoomganj area.
The farmhouse was constructed on 2,500 square yards without its map being sanctioned. The property’s value is estimated to be around Rs 20 crore.
Shukla said a probe has been ordered to verify the nature of land on which the house and farmhouse had been constructed by the key aides of the jailed ex-MP.
Shukla said the joint team started demolishing the house and farmhouse of the key and trusted henchmen of the former MP amid tight security. Forces of four police stations was deployed to tackle any untoward incident.
Police, meanwhile, said that many criminal cases were also registered against Mohd Muslim and Akbar at Dhoomanganj and other police stations.