UP: Yogi govt continues mafia crackdown, properties of 2 jailed gangsters seized

Uttar Pradesh Police informed on Sunday that the Sambhal district government seized property worth Rs 1.25 crore belonging to imprisoned gangsters Shamshad and Shareef Pehelwan. According to the police, the two reportedly obtained the 165-hectare land through illicit means. 

Chakresh Mishra, SP Sambhal, told ANI "On the instruction of Sambhal district administration, the 165-hectare land has been seized. The illegal construction on the land is being razed using bulldozer. They are lodged in jail under the UP Gangsters Act."

Yogi Govt Crackdown On Mafia

The government of Uttar Pradesh has been hard with mafias, gangsters, and criminal groups in order to put their power in society under control. The Yogi Adityanath-led state government has seized assets worth Rs. 1.18 crore in August, belonging to mafia MLA Mukhtar Ansari's wife Afsha Ansari and his brother Sarjeel Raza as part of a sweeping crackdown on Mafia organisations in Uttar Pradesh. The Uttar Pradesh Police have seized the properties of the gangster turned MLA's wife and brother in Ghazipur, Delhi NCR, under section 14(1) of the Gangster Act, which provides for the attachment of unlawful properties in order to effectively suppress gangsters, mafias, criminals, and their allies.

According to official data published in June, the Uttar Pradesh Police filed 5,558 FIRs under the Gangsters Act between January 2020 and April 2021. According to PTI, the linked ill-gotten properties are worth roughly 1,128 crores and belong to mafias and their gang members.

Yogi Adityanath's crackdown on mafias & gangsters

According to data released by the state government in March 2021, the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh Government seized and demolished properties worth Rs 980 crores under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities Act, sending a strong message to the state's criminals, gangsters, and mafias. As per state government data, properties worth Rs 834 crore were bulldozed and seized in 2020, with another Rs 117 crore confiscated as of March 2021. Furthermore, the UP government claims that land from the 1,174 seized properties will be used to construct affordable housing and township projects for the needy.

The Yogi Adityanath-led government's tough stance and zero-tolerance policy against anti-social elements in the state had previously been a talking point, with the Samajwadi Party questioning the government's decision to demolish the properties of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and known criminals Anil Dujana, Sunder Bhati, and Badan Singh Baddo.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI/Unsplash