The CBI has booked former Samajwadi Party MP Ateeq Ahmed and others for allegedly orchestrating the abduction of a Lucknow-based businessman Mohit Jaiswal from Deoria Jail to extort money from him and take over his business. The case was initially registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police, and the CBI took over the probe on Wednesday following a directive from the Supreme Court.

The CBI has booked Ahmed on the charges of criminal conspiracy, extortion, cheating, forgery, robbery and criminal intimidation among others.

Real estate dealer Jaiswal was allegedly abducted from Lucknow and taken to Deoria Jail, where he was assaulted by Ahmed and his aides, who were lodged there, and forced to transfer his business to them, sources said.

Jaiswal, whose real estate business is based at the posh Gomti Nagar area in Lucknow, had alleged in his complaint that Ahmed was threatening him for extortion for the last two years.

Jaiswal had said he had made some payments to Ahmed, after which the demands for money had stopped for a while, but Ahmed again started asking for money from him in 2018.

He had alleged that Ahmed’s goons had taken over his business forcibly by obtaining his and his sister’s digital signatures.

Jaiswal further alleged that on December 26, 2018, he was taken in his own sports utility vehicle (SUV) by one of Ahmed’s goons to Deoria Jail, where the former MP was lodged.

Ahmed’s son Umar and 10-12 other gang members were also present in the jail, who beat him up, causing serious injuries to him, Jaiswal had alleged.

Four of his companies, including MJ Infra Housing Private Limited, were transferred in the name of Farooq and Zaki Ahmad, both goons of Ahmed who had been threatening him, he had alleged.

The combined assets of the firms were worth `45 crore, according to the FIR.

They had also taken his signatures on his company letterhead in the jail, Jaiswal had claimed.

The businessman had also alleged that Ahmed threatened him, saying he could not be killed inside the jail and hence, he was being allowed to go. But the politician had forcibly kept his SUV in the jail, Jaiswal had alleged.

The matter was handed over to the CBI by the Supreme Court, which had also ordered Ahmed’s transfer to a jail in Gujarat.

During the hearing in the Supreme Court, the Uttar Pradesh government had confirmed the incident and said the CCTV cameras in the jail complex were tampered with at the time of Jaiswal’s abduction and forcible visit to Deoria jail.

As many as eight cases pending investigation were registered against Ahmed between 2015 and 2019, of which two were murder cases.

Ahmed was an SP MP in the 14th Lok Sabha from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh from 2004 to 2009 and a five-time MLA. He has been in jail since February 11, 2017. In the past, he was also associated with the Apna Dal (Sonelal).