New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath handed over keys to 76 flats constructed for the underprivileged on land formerly owned by the late gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed in Prayagraj. These flats were built as part of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) and were allocated through a lottery system on June 9. During his visit to the flats’ location, the Chief Minister interacted with the children of beneficiaries and conducted an inspection of the housing units. The Chief Minister also inaugurated 226 development projects in the city.
“This is the same state where, before 2017, any mafia could grab the land of the poor, businessmen, or even government institutions. The poor could only look away helplessly. Now that we are building homes for the poor on the same land that we have seized from these mafias, this is a big achievement,” the minister said.
The beneficiaries are provided with a 41-square-metre flat at an affordable rate of only Rs. 3.5 lakh. Officials said that each flat comprises two rooms, a kitchen, and toilet facilities, amounting to a total cost of Rs. 6 lakh. On December 26, 2021, Yogi Adityanath laid the foundation stone for this affordable housing project on 1,731 square metres of land after it was freed from the possession of Atiq Ahmed in the Lukerganj area of Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmed was accused in the 2005 murder of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Raju Pal and also in the killing of a key witness in that case, Umesh Pal, in February this year. He and his brother Ashraf Ahmed were shot dead on live TV by men posing as journalists on April 15 this year while they were being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.
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