Guddu Muslim a ‘backstabber’? Old gangsters reveal dubious past of Atiq Ahmad’s aide

Former gangsters, who were previously associated with Guddu Muslim, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, have disclosed his deceitful nature and inclination towards killing his own aides.

Guddu Muslim is one of the close aides of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, who and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by armed men posing as journalists on April 15 night while being taken for a medical examination in Prayagraj.

According to Randhir Singh Lalla, an aide of alleged ‘notorious don’ Abhay Singh (now Samajwadi Party MLA from Gosainganj), Guddu Muslim had a history of murdering his aides and successfully evading justice. In the late 1990s, Guddu Muslim was frequently spotted in Sarairasi village near Ayodhya, thanks to his friendship with gangster Santosh Singh, India Today reported.

“In 1996-97, Guddu Muslim was seen a lot in Sarairasi village adjacent to Ayodhya. The reason was his friendship with Santosh Singh, who was a gangster. Santosh was a resident of Sarairasi village. He had a Maruti car and a rifle and Guddu Muslim used to travel with Santosh in his car,” India Today quoted Lalla as saying.

Lalla also revealed that Guddu Muslim was in contact with the mafia in Ambedkar Nagar and had enmity with mafiamen there. One day, Guddu Muslim left Ambedkar Nagar with Satyendra Singh Langad, a known history-sheeter, in his car, and got down near Sarairasi village where he met Santosh Singh. However, suddenly, a history-sheeter named Sriprakash Shukla attacked Satyendra Singh and killed him, and Guddu Muslim fled the scene. There are allegations that Guddu Muslim was an informer who helped track Satyendra Singh.

Later, Guddu Muslim betrayed Santosh Singh by poisoning him to death. People close to Abhay Singh claim that he cut ties with Guddu Muslim following the killing of Santosh Singh, who was a resident of his village.

In an interview with ThePrint, Lalla clarified that he had only shared what he had heard about the events leading to Santosh Singh’s death. Lalla admitted that he was young at that time and had not witnessed the incident himself. According to Abhay Singh, it was Guddu Muslim and his long-time friend Dhananjay Singh (later a Bahujan Samaj Party MP) who had killed Santosh by spiking his cold drink.

Dhananjay, however, denied all the allegations levelled against him by Lalla, stating that Lalla was a close aide of Abhay Singh and would naturally speak ill of him as they were rivals. Dhananjay mentioned that Abhay Singh, Guddu Muslim, and one more aide named Madan had been booked by Jaunpur police for looting a petrol pump in the 1990s and had served time in jail.

“Guddu Muslim is known to have backstabbed people in the past,” Prayagraj superintendent of Police (City) Deepak Bhuker told ThePrint. When asked about the speculation that he may have leaked information about Atiq and Ashraf, the police officer said, “Guddu Muslim does not have the wherewithal to leak information about Atiq and backstab him.”

Guddu Muslim, known for his expertise in hurling bombs, has managed to evade authorities so far and his last known location was in Karnataka. He is one of the 10 people accused in the murder case of lawyer Umesh Pal.