Who is Shaista Parveen, wife of slain gangster Atiq Ahmed and now most-wanted in UP?

Much has changed for Shaista Parveen, the wife of slain gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed. The daughter of a retired police constable, the 51-year-old now finds herself atop the Uttar Pradesh Police’s most-wanted list. What’s more, the authorities have announced a reward of Rs 50,000 for information about Shaista. Let’s take a closer look: According to The Times of India, Shaista is the daughter of Mohammed Haroon, a former police constable. The family lived in Prayagraj’s Damupur village. Shaista, the oldest of seven siblings, stayed at the government police quarters with her father. A retired schoolteacher described her as ‘very polite’ and said she would always attend parent-teacher meetings. One of her brothers is a principal at a madrasa, as per The Times of India.

News18 reported that Shaista passed her 12th exams from a Prayagraj school and wed Atiq in 1996.

Shaista was initially a homemaker, but she became more and more involved with her husband’s criminal empire – especially after Atiq went to prison. News18 reported that Shaista took an active role in running Atiq’s criminal enterprise and even took part in the planning of lawyer Umesh Pal’s murder. In fact, Shaista and Atiq reportedly talked about killing Pal – who was murdered in February – when she went to visit hm at Sabarmati Jail. “For this, Atiq had asked her to send a phone and a SIM card to him inside jail. He had also told her the name of a cop who would deliver the phone to him in prison. Days later, the phone was sent and Atiq used it to speak to shooters and plot the crime,” police sources told The Times of India. Shaista is among the main accused in the Pal case and also has three cheating cases pending against her. According to Hindustan Times, those cases were filed at Colonelganj police station and were registered under Section 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security or will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using forged document) besides section 30 (contravention of licence or rule) of the Arms Act. Atiq’s relative Mohammad Jishan claimed he once sent his son along with 25 shooters to demand that he transfer his land to Shaista as well as pay Rs five crore, according to Hindustan Times. According to The Times of India, a property dealer named Zeeshan has accused Shaista of threatening him on the phone over extortion money Atiq demanded.

According to DNA, Shaista first joined AIMIM but later switched to the Bahujan Samaj Party.

“My husband (Atiq) could not learn discipline due to friendship with SP supremo. My husband always liked BSP and even helped top BSP leaders earlier,” Shaista said as per Hindustan Times. [caption id=“attachment_12478162” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Shaista Parveen and Atiq Ahmed. News18[/caption] However, the party ultimately decided not to field Shaista. Shaista has been absconding since her son Asad was shot dead in an encounter in Jhansi, as per DNA. According to News18, Shaista in February purportedly wrote a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath claiming that her husband and brother-in-law have been framed in the Pal case. “If you (CM Adityanath) do not intervene, my husband, brother-in-law and sons will be killed," Shaista wrote. Shaista further claimed that minister Nand Gopal Gupta is the main conspirator in Pal’s murder. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.