Mukhtar Ansari, the former criminal who later entered politics, passed away on Thursday evening due to a cardiac arrest. Following a decline in his health, he was promptly taken to a hospital, but unfortunately, he succumbed to his condition while undergoing treatment.
The ex-MLA from Mau, Uttar Pradesh, who had served five terms, including two times as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate had been imprisoned in both Uttar Pradesh and Punjab since 2005. According to a medical report, the 63-year-old, who was imprisoned in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, was rushed to Rani Durgavati Medical College by jail officials after he was found unconscious and vomiting around 8.25 pm on Thursday.
A substantial police force was positioned outside the hospital immediately after Ansari was taken there, and restrictions under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) have been implemented across Uttar Pradesh following his demise. Prashant Kumar, the Director General of Police in Uttar Pradesh, stated that additional police personnel and teams from the Central Reserve Police Force have also been deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur, and Varanasi districts.
Mukhtar revealed that he had been administered a poisonous substance in his prison meals. This incident occurred for the second time, as he had previously been poisoned approximately 40 days ago. Furthermore, on either March 19 or March 22, he was once again subjected to this harmful substance, resulting in his deteriorating health condition.
Following a rapid decline in prisoner Mukhtar Ansari’s health and an incident where he fell in the toilet during the night, he promptly received medical attention from the prison doctor. Upon notifying the district administration, a group of doctors was summoned to transfer the prisoner to the medical college during the same night.
Ansari, a resident of Mau, had an extensive criminal record with a total of 61 cases filed against him. Out of these cases, 15 were specifically related to murder charges. Initially, he became a member of a gang during the 1980s, but later on, he formed his own gang in the 1990s. This gang was notorious for engaging in criminal activities such as extortion and kidnapping across various districts including Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi, and Jaunpur.
In 2004, Ansari faced charges under the now-defunct Prevention of Terrorism Act when authorities discovered a machine gun in his hideout. Consequently, he has been incarcerated since the following year. Subsequently, in April 2023, he received a 10-year prison sentence for the murder of BJP MLA Krisnanand Rai. Additionally, on March 13 of this year, he was handed a life sentence for possessing a fake gun license dating back to 1990.
