The poster was made to see how Ahmed would look in disguise. It was meant for the police, but had been released to the public by mistake, said Allahabad DIG BP Jogdand.

But since footage of it had been flashed on television channels, the police are now hoping to turn the incident to their advantage by pasting the posters at all public places — railway stations, airports and government buildings. They even plan to send the posters to other states.

Allahabad Senior Superintendent of Police Dipesh Juneja said: “After we failed to find him, we issued these posters. So if he tries to give us the slip in disguise, he can be caught.”

Reacting promptly, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav announced: “Atiq is no more with us.” Yadav, who was talking to the media at Faizabad, said: “The party has no space for criminals and anti-socials.”

Ahmed has been declared an absconder for threatening a witness in the murder case of BSP legislator Raju Pal, who was shot dead at Allahabad in January 2005. He is also accused of conspiring in Pal’s murder.

A Lok Sabha MP from Phulpur, Ahmed has several criminal cases pending against him, including kidnapping, murder and extortion.

His brother Ashraf Ahmed, a former Samajwadi Party MLA from Allahabad, is also allegedly involved in Pal’s murder and threatening the witness.

The case was lodged by the witness Umesh Pal, a relative of Pal, after Mayawati came to power. He had alleged that Ahmed and his henchmen had picked him up and threatened him with dire consequences unless he refused to give a statement in the court.