Atiq Ahmed is teh Samajwadi Party candidate from Kanpur Cantonment seat.
Don-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed - the Samajwadi Party candidate for the coming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections - has been named in a police case for allegedly assaulting the staff of an educational institute in Allahabad.
The assault was the fallout of what the Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences or SHIATS called an "unlawful entry" by the politician and his supporters on Wednesday evening.
University official Ramakant Dubey said Mr Ahmed-who has 43 criminal cases against him -- had barged into the institute and asked to meet Vice Chancellor RB Lal. But when a security official told them that Mr Lal was not in and asked to return later, they beat him up. The university shared the CCTV footage of the alleged assault with the police and media.
The police said a case has been registered against Atiq Ahmed and four of his supporters for rioting, unlawful assembly, dacoity and criminal intimidation.
Atiq Ahmed denied the allegation. News agency Press Trust of India quoted him as saying that he had gone to the institute to meet the Vice-chancellor and ask him to reconsider the expulsion of two students.
A former member of the Lok Sabha, Mr Ahmed was named as the candidate of the ruling Samajwadi Party from the Kanpur Cantonment seat.
Mr Ahmed was arrested in 2008 for his role in the murder of Raju Pal, a legislator of the Bahujan Samaj Party. He is out on bail.
Raju Pal, who was gunned down in broad daylight in one of the Allahabad's most crowded areas in January 2005. The Central Bureau is currently investigating the case, following an order from the Supreme Court in January.
BSP chief Mayawati hit out at the Akhilesh Yadav government over the incident ay SHIATS, calling it a "slap on the face of state government".
(With PTI inputs)