The four women who sent the Uttar Pradesh police on a wild goose chase for months

Lucknow: With the four women having no direct or overt involvement in the crime, the entire UP police force is in custody. These four women are wives of mafia dons and have been absconding for the past several weeks. He has been named as a conspirator in various criminal cases, but the police have so far failed to track him down. Shaista Parveen (51), wife of slain Atiq Ahmed, is now the most wanted woman in the police list. Shaista has been absconding since February 24 when Umesh Pal, a witness in the Raju Pal murder case, was shot dead in Prayagraj. Police claimed that Shaista was the mastermind behind the murder and had paid the shooters.

On 13 April, his third son Asad – said to be one of the shooters in the assassination – was killed by the Special Task Force in Jhansi. Two days later, on April 15, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead by three assailants in police custody.

Shaista’s husband, son and brother-in-law were buried a day apart from each other in the Kasari Masari family cemetery, but she did not come to mourn for them, nor did she attend their burials.

The STF was on alert at the cemetery in the hope that Shaista would come out of hiding and surrender. It’s been almost four months, but there is no trace of Shaista Parveen, who now carries a reward of Rs 50,000 on her head.

The second wife to dodge the police is Zainab Fatima, wife of slain gangster Ashraf. Zainab has also been absconding since the Umesh Pal murder case and was not present when her husband was killed. He is also an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case.

There are reports of a rift between Shaista and Zainab over property but there is nothing to prove them. Sources also claim that both the sisters-in-law are hiding together and are waiting for the right time to surrender.

The name of the absconding third wife is Afsha Ansari, wife of jailed don Mukhtar Ansari. Apart from Mukhtar Ansari, his son Abbas Ansari and daughter-in-law Nikhat Ansari are in jail while elder brother-in-law Afzal Ansari was also arrested recently.

Nine cases have been registered against Afsha, some of which are related to money laundering. Police is raiding every possible hideout of Ansari brothers but Afsha Ansari is out of reach. The absconding fourth wife is Payal Maheshwari, wife of gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, who was shot dead inside the courtroom on June 7.

Payal Maheshwari approached the Supreme Court on 8 June claiming threat to her life. She also feared that she might be arrested after her husband’s death and insisted that she wanted to attend his husband’s funeral. The Supreme Court refused urgent listing of Payal Maheshwari’s plea and later, did not attend her husband’s cremation. The police remained alert while waiting for his arrival.

Payal was booked under the Gangster Act. According to a senior STF official, the delay in arresting these four women has tarnished the image of the UP Police. “In the case of Shaista Parveen, Zainab and Afsha Ansari, it is the burqa that is a major obstacle. All three women move around in burqas, making identification almost impossible until we have definite information. Payal also went underground It is and it will take time.” Time to find out,” he said.