Mukhtar Ansari of Purvanchal, who came to politics from the world of crime, died in judicial custody due to a heart attack on Thursday night. On Friday, leaders of all political parties expressed reactions according to their respective views. Mukhtar Ansari’s son alleged that his father was murdered in jail by giving him slow poison. However, the state government has asked the Additional District Magistrate to thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the death of prisoner Mukhtar Ansari and submit his report. Mukhtar Ansari was found lying unconscious in the toilet of Banda jail on Thursday, after which he was admitted to the CCU of Banda Medical College, where he breathed his last. With the death of Mukhtar Ansari, his criminal life has come to a complete end. In his youth, Mukhtar Ansari was adept at cross-country running, but in the seventies and eighties he entered the world of crime and joined a gang that dealt with coal, railway construction, scrap sales, public works and liquor. Used to use muscle power to grab contracts. After this, Mukhtar’s gang started committing crimes like goonda tax, extortion business and kidnapping for ransom. Traders and other businessmen in Ghazipur, Mau, Varanasi and Jaunpur used to tremble at the name of this gang.
Mukhtar was imprisoned since 2005 and more than 65 cases were pending against him. Out of these, 25 cases were committed when he was a prisoner in jail. Several courts of UP had sentenced him in eight cases. In November 2005, when Mukhtar and his gang murdered BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and 6 others in Ghazipur in broad daylight, Mukhtar’s name came into limelight in the national media. Last year, an MP-MLA court had sentenced Mukhtar to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of Krishnanand Rai. In March this year, the court sentenced Mukhtar to life imprisonment in a fake arms license case. Last year, a Varanasi court sentenced businessman Awadhesh Rai to life imprisonment for the murder in 1991. Awadhesh Rai is the elder brother of Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai. This time Ajay Rai is going to contest the Lok Sabha elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.
Mukhtar was also an accused in the case of kidnapping and murder of coal businessman Nandkishore Rungta in 1997. In 2019, he was sent from Banda in UP to Ropar jail in Punjab because someone from Banda jail called a builder in Mohali and borrowed Rs 10 crore. Had sought recovery of Rs. Mukhtar remained in Ropar jail for two years. In 2021, the Uttar Pradesh government appealed to the Supreme Court to send Mukhtar back to UP. Then Mukhtar was brought to Banda jail. Mukhtar Ansari was elected MLA 5 times, twice as an independent, twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate, and fifth time on the ticket of his party Qaumi Ekta Dal. Mukhtar Ansari and his two brothers Afzal and Sibgatullah have a lot of influence among the voters of Purvanchal, but with the death of Mukhtar, a life active in the world of Jarayam has come to a complete end. (Rajat Sharma)
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