Ex-MP Ateeq Ahmad shifted to Sabarmati jail in Guj from UP

Former Uttar Pradesh MP and strongman Ateeq Ahmad was Monday transferred to high-security Sabarmati central jail here in Gujarat from the Naini jail in Uttar Pradesh on directions of the Supreme Court, an official said.

Ahmad was brought to Ahmedabad from Varanasi in a flight in the morning, they said.

"Ateeq Ahmad was brought to the Sabarmati central jail today morning as directed by the supreme court," said a jail official.

Ahmad's son Umar, who was also on the flight, told PTI: "My father was brought here through a flight from Varanasi. He was taken to Sabarmati jail from the airport".

In April, the Supreme Court had ordered shifting of Ahmad to the Sabarmati jail from the Naini central jail where he was lodged for kidnapping and assaulting a businessman in the Deoria prison.

The SC order came after businessman Mohit Jaiswal had filed an FIR in December last year alleging that he was kidnapped from Lucknow and taken to the prison where he was assaulted by the jailed don and his aides and was forced to transfer his business to them.

The Uttar Pradesh government had told the apex court that Ahmad, who was earlier lodged in Deoria jail, had kidnapped and assaulted Jaiswal on December 26.

The former MP was previously associated with political parties including the Samajwadi Party and the Apna Dal (Sonewal faction).