News Analysis India

Tag: Mukhtar Ansari

  • Allahabad HC admits pleas against acquittal of Mukhtar Ansari in three cases

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Tuesday admitted three pleas moved by the state government against the acquittal of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in three cases.

    The court posted the matter for hearing after three weeks and issued notices to him for his response.

    The court also summoned the records from the trial court.

    A Bench of Justices Ramesh Sinha and Rajeev Singh passed the order on three appeals filed individually.

    A Lucknow court had acquitted the BSP MLA in the cases for want of evidence in December.

    Filing appeals against his acquittal, the state government pleaded that there was a witness who had deposed against Mukhtar but the trial court erred in not relying on the evidence.

    It was also pleaded that in a Gangster Act case, the trial court failed to appreciate the evidence on record.

    In another case, he was accused of threatening to kill a jailer in Lucknow in 2003.

  • Mukhtar Ansari brought back to UP, Atiq Ahmad next: Minister Anand Swarup Shukla

    By PTI
    BALLIA: A day after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to the state from a prison in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh minister Anand Swarup Shukla on Thursday said jailed former parliamentarian and strongman Atiq Ahmad is next.

    Five-time legislator and one-time MP Ahmad, now over 60, has more then 90 criminal cases, including murder, abduction, illegal mining, extortion, intimidation and fraud, against him.

    He is lodged in a prison in Gujarat.

    He was shifted there from Uttar Pradesh on the direction of the Supreme Court in 2019.

    “The Uttar Pradesh government succeeded in bringing back Ansari despite several tricks by the Punjab government. Now we will try to bring Atiq Ahmad back from Gujarat,” Shukla told reporters here.

    It is the duty of the state government to bring back such criminals to UP as they have to be punished for their crimes, he said.

    “Already a number of Ahmad’s lavish bungalows in Allahabad have been bulldozed,” the Uttar Pradesh Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs said.

    The Uttar Pradesh government brought Ansari back from the Ropad prison in Punjab to Banda jail on Wednesday morning.

  • ‘Two wheelchairs are quite famous’: Narottam Mishra takes a dig at Mamata, Mukhtar Ansari

    By ANI
    ASANSOL: Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra on Wednesday said “the wheelchair is in a peculiar position” in an apparent jibe at the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bahujan Samajwadi Party leader Mukhtar Ansari.

    Mishra speaking at an event on Wednesday said “…Two wheelchairs are quite famous. One has reached UP’s Banda from Punjab, the other one is here. One is in a wheelchair due to fear of losing, the other due to fear of getting beaten up. The wheelchair is in a peculiar position now.”

    Gangster-turned-politician Ansari who had spent over two years in a jail in Punjab in connection to an extortion case was on Wednesday brought to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh by a special security team of Uttar Pradesh Police.

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    While being produced in a district court in Mohali, Ansari was seen in a wheelchair. Upon being produced he told the court that he was not well following which the court directed the jail authorities to get his medical examination done.Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been wheelchair-bound after injuring her foot last month while campaigning in Nandigram for the Assembly polls. Following the incident, the chief minister has been campaigning sitting on a wheelchair.

    On Monday addressing a public meeting in Hooghly’s Debanandapur, Mamata targeted the BJP and said: “BJP, cannot you find a local candidate to contest elections? They do not have locals. All their people are borrowed from either TMC or CPM. They are sprinkling money like water from a hosepipe. I will win Bengal on one leg and in the future, will get victory in Delhi on two legs.”

  • Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari back in Banda prison, kept in isolation

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW:  The much-hyped shifting of gangster-turned-politician and sitting BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari from Punjab’s Ropar Jail culminated at barrack number 16 of the Banda Jail in Uttar Pradesh amid tight security at 4.50 am on Wednesday.

    Ansari, who has been brought back to the state in an ambulance after 14 months of a political tussle between two state governments and finally the intervention of the Supreme Court, has been kept in isolation at barrack no 16 under 24×7 CCTV camera surveillance.

    According to DG (prison) Anand Kumar, the jail premises was being monitored by senior officials directly from the command centre room at the jail headquarters in Lucknow.

    The UP Police convoy covered almost 1,800 km in 14 hours to reach the Banda jail after taking the custody of the BSP MLA from Ropar jail at 2.10 pm on Tuesday.

    As Ansari’s sample was not tested for Covid-19 at the Ropar jail, a team of doctors of the Banda Medical College conducted a medical examination and test for Covid on him before being lodged at the barrack.

    Kumar said the gangster was found to be having no major medical condition at the time he was lodged in Banda jail. 

    The jail administration has removed all old staff posted in the jail to ensure that the history-sheeter lives like an ordinary under-trial rather than to enjoy sops and favours extended by his contacts on the jail premises.

    “To ensure tighten up the administrative and security arrangements at Banda jail, the Banda city magistrate has been given the charge of in-charge jail superintendent,” said the DG prison. He added that two additional deputy jailors were deputed in the jail.

    The BSP MLA from Mau faces trial in UP in several cases, including attempt to murder and murder. His transfer from Punjab was ordered by the Supreme Court after the UP government approached it, seeking the politician’s custody from Punjab.

    The family has expressed concern over Ansari’s safety while in UP, expressing apprehension about possible attempts to eliminate him.

    The SC will hear on Friday Afshan Ansari’s plea seeking directions to the UP authorities to ensure protection for her husband. 

  • Mukhtar Ansari denied food, water during Punjab-UP transfer, alleges brother; government says no health issues

    By PTI
    BALLIA: Mukhtar Ansari’s brother alleged on Wednesday that inhuman treatment was given to the gangster-turned-politician while being transferred to Banda jail from Punjab, saying it would have been better had he been just shot dead at a road crossing.

    The Uttar Pradesh government, however, said a team of doctors of the Banda Medical College examined Mukhtar Ansari at the jail and found no “immediate” health issues.

    “Inhuman treatment was meted to Mukhtar while being shifted from Punjab to Banda jail. In the over 15-hour journey, he was not given water and food and was also denied medical aid,” Afzal Ansari, the BSP MP from Ghazipur, told PTI.

    “Due to this, he became unwell and reached Banda jail in a semi-unconscious state,” he added.

    Afzal Ansari, however, did not elaborate how he got to know about the alleged treatment meted out to his brother during his transfer from Punjab’s Rupnagar jail.

    “The Yogi Adityanath government has left Britishers behind with such acts. Contrary to the jail manual, Mukhtar has been kept in an isolation barrack. Those who have to protect laws are creating terror. It would have been better that he was made to stand at some road crossing and shot dead,” he said.

    Mukhtar Ansari faces trial in several cases including murder and attempt to murder in UP.

    The Uttar Pradesh government said in a statement, “Undertrial Ansari was brought from Punjab’s Ropar jail at about 4.50 am to Banda prison gate by a special team and he finally got entry at 5 am”.

    “All his belongings were checked and no objectionable items were found. A team of Banda Medical college doctors did his check-up and found no immediate health issues,” it said.

    “Mukhtar Ansari would be tested for COVID-19 later in the day inside the jail. According to the Supreme Court orders, with the help of district administration and Chief Medical officer, Banda, his health arrangements are being ensured,” the statement added.

    ADG, Prison, Anand Kumar has given strict instructions for round-the-clock security of Mukhtar Ansari, who is also Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Mau.

    Elaborate arrangements have been made inside the prison, where he will be kept in barrack number 16, which will be under 24-hour camera surveillance, the statement said.

    According to it, the entire Banda jail is covered with CCTV cameras and is being monitored by senior officers from jail headquarter command centre in Lucknow.

    For outer security of the jail, additional force of PAC has been deployed and Banda city magistrate has been made incharge jail superintendent for administrative and security arrangements, it said.

    Two new deputy jailors have been deputed and additional head jail warder and jail warder have been made available to the prison, the government statement said.

    Afzal Ansari also claimed that the blood-sugar level and blood pressure of Mukhtar Ansari, who has diabetes, have increased and alleged that the jail administration is not accepting the request to provide him a doctor.

    “Instead of treating him, he was being administered injection to put him to sleep,” Afzal Ansari alleged. He further claimed that his brother was kept in the ambulance for over one-and-half hours even after reaching the Banda jail.

    “At around 9 am, some persons known to Mukhtar reached the jail to meet him but were returned from the prison premises. Mukhtar is an undertrial and despite this he is getting treatment like a convict,” he said, adding “such a treatment was never given to any undertrial in the history of the country”.

    Minister of state for Parliamentary Affairs Anand Swarup Shukla said Mukhtar Ansari will be provided security inside the jail and nothing like what happened to Munna Bajrangi will take place, he said, referring to murder of a gangster in a UP jail three years ago.

    Prem Prakash Singh (51) alias Munna Bajrangi was shifted to Baghpat jail on Jul 8 2018 and was allegedly killed there by another gangster Sunil Rathi.

    “He will get punishment by the court. We will give security to witnesses also. The government will ensure trial in all the cases against him. If he deserves capital punishment as per charges, police will ensure that during trial,” Shukla said.

    The minister claimed that Mukhtar Ansari will be convicted and so will not be able to contest elections again.

    After spending over two years in a Punjab prison, Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to Banda jail in the early hours of Wednesday.

    He was ferried in an ambulance guarded by a strong posse of gun-toting security personnel throughout his 900-km journey from Rupnagar to the Uttar Pradesh town in the Bundelkhand region.

    Mukhtar Ansari was lodged in Rupnagar jail in January 2019 in connection with an extortion case.

    Acting on a Supreme Court order, the Uttar Pradesh Police took his custody at Rupnagar jail on Tuesday to bring him back to the Banda prison.

    He is facing 52 cases in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere, and 15 of them are in the trial stage.

  • SC to hear on April 9 plea of Mukhtar Ansari’s wife for his protection in UP

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court will hear on Friday the plea of the wife of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari seeking directions to the Uttar Pradesh authorities to ensure that her husband’s life is “protected” in the state besides being accorded fair trial in cases against him.

    A bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R Subhash Reddy, as per the apex court’s website, would hear on April 9 the plea of Afshan Ansari who has also expressed apprehension about possible attempts to eliminate her spouse in Uttar Pradesh.

    Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday got Ansari’s custody from its Punjab counterpart as per the direction of the apex court.

    He is accused of heinous crimes in several cases lodged against him in Uttar Pradesh.

    The plea in apex court has alleged that there is a “genuine, persistent and grave threat” to Ansari’s life in Uttar Pradesh and there are “very high chances” that he will be eliminated if adequate protection or safeguards towards his life are not directed by the apex court.

    The plea said several attempts have been made on his life in the past by rival political enemies belonging to the ruling government in the state.

    It sought direction that transit of her husband from one jail to another as also to the court be video-graphed at all times and be carried out in presence of officers of central police force such as CRPF.

    The top court had on March 26 directed Punjab government to hand over the custody of Ansari, who was lodged in Rupnagar jail there since January 2019 in connection with an alleged extortion case, to the Uttar Pradesh police.

    The fresh plea has sought directions to the Uttar Pradesh authorities to provide adequate safeguards and protection to her husband while he is shifted to district jail Banda in Uttar Pradesh from Punjab.

    She has also sought directions to the authorities to provide protection to Ansari, an MLA from Mau constituency, while he is lodged in Banda jail or any other jail as may be decided by the special judge (MP/MLA court) in Allahabad and also while he is produced before the courts in Uttar Pradesh.

    The plea has sought directions to the authorities to ensure that life of Ansari is protected and his rights under Article 21 of the Constitution are safeguarded while attending trial in all cases against him in Uttar Pradesh.

    “The threat to the life of the petitioner’s husband (Ansari) is not merely an apprehension, but has also been substantiated in the past by several attempts made on his life by rival political enemies belonging to the ruling government in Uttar Pradesh,” it claimed.

    “There is a hanging threat to the life of the petitioner’s husband and there are very high chances that he will be eliminated if adequate protection or safeguards towards his life are not directed by this court,” it said.

    The plea has also referred to the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey in Uttar Pradesh last year.

    “Similar reports are being given in the press in relation to the petitioner’s husband herein, thus the petitioner prays that her husband’s life may be protected while he is directed to attend trial in the state of Uttar Pradesh so that he does not meet a similar fate,” it said.

    The plea has sought direction that while Ansari is shifted to district jail Banda from Punjab or transferred from Banda prison to other jail, it should be done under the supervision and presence of a designated judicial magistrate.

    The apex court had on March 26 directed the Punjab government to hand over Ansari’s custody to Uttar Pradesh Police, saying the custody was being denied on trivial grounds under guise of medical issues.

    The top court had said a convict or an undertrial prisoner, who disobeys the law of the land, cannot oppose his transfer from one prison to another and the courts are not to be a helpless bystander when the rule of law is being challenged with impunity.

    The apex court had said it was open for the special court, constituted for MPs/MLAs at Allahabad, to continue him either in the District Jail at Banda or shift to any other prison in the state, if any need arises.

    It had delivered the verdict on the plea of Uttar Pradesh government seeking a direction to the Punjab government and Rupnagar jail authority to immediately hand over the custody of Ansari, to the district jail Banda.

  • Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari brought back to Banda jail from Punjab prison

    By PTI
    BANDA: After spending over two years in a Punjab prison, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to Banda jail early on Wednesday morning.

    He was ferried in an ambulance guarded by a strong posse of gun-toting security personnel throughout his 900-km journey from Rupnagar to this Uttar Pradesh town in the Bundelkhand region.

    Acting on a Supreme Court order, the Uttar Pradesh Police took custody of the 57-year-old BSP MLA at Rupnagar jail on Tuesday to bring him back to Banda prison.

    It took around two hours to complete the formalities before he was handed over to the UP Police after a medical check up.

    Once the convoy entered the state on Tuesday evening, the fleet of security vehicles of the Uttar Pradesh Police, which included an ambulance equipped with all life-saving equipment to meet any exigency en route to Banda, a journey that takes around 14 hours from Ropar, and an anti-riot police vehicle ‘Vajra’ whizzed past the newly-laid expressways.

    Before the convoy entered Banda jail at 4.30 am, it slowed down near Kanpur Dehat as some stray animals blocked the road along a patch of thick forest.

    Apart from the ambulance, three police vehicles also entered the Banda jail premises.

    At 1.30 am, the police convoy in which Mukhtar Ansari was moving, was stopped for sometime in Satti police station area.

    As anxious reporters ran to the policemen and sought the reasons for the sudden stoppage from them, no response was given, and the policemen at the spot tried to evade the questions posed by reporters.

    Later, SO of Satti police station Kapil Dubey told PTI, “Mukhtar used toilet in the Satti police station premises to attend nature’s call. He stayed inside the police station for almost 5 minutes.”

    Before this, around 1.10 am, the convoy came to a halt on the road between Bhognipur and Ghatampur due to some stray animals.

    Initially, the speed of the vehicles was reduced, then the vehicles were stopped, and local police removed the stray animals, following which the convoy resumed its journey.

    While heavy security arrangement were made by the Punjab Police outside Rupnagar jail, the Banda prison area looked like a cantonment zone with policemen keeping a hawk-eyed vigil all around.

    The police convoy entered Uttar Pradesh through the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in Baghpat around 6.00 pm, Allahabad zone Additional Director General of Police Prem Prakash told PTI.

    The Uttar Pradesh team had reached Rupnagar police lines at 4.30 am on Tuesday and left for the jail around noon for the transfer.

    The convoy left the jail premises at 2:08 pm taking a side gate, dodging mediapersons waiting outside the main gate.

    As the convoy took the Ambala road, some media vehicles gave a chase but soon gave up.

    The five-time MLA will cool his heels in barrack number 15 of the Banda district jail, where he was lodged in the past before being shifted to Punjab.

    Additional police force has been deployed at the jail at the request of prison authorities.

    He will be guarded by three security personnel round-the-clock inside the barrack.

    “Security personnel have been posted inside as well as outside the jail premises,” Banda jailor Pramod Tiwari said.

    “In barrack number 15, where Ansari will be kept, arrangements for light, drinking water and cleanliness have been beefed up,” he said.

    Tiwari said access to the barrack has now been denied to other jail inmates.

    The main prison complex gate, which generally remains open, will now be kept closed.

    Only those jail staff reporting for duty will be allowed in after proper screening, he added.

    High towers have been put up outside the jail and extra police pickets have also been set up to keep a watch on every visitor.

    Meanwhile, principal of Government Medical College, Banda, Dr Mukesh Kumar Yadav said a panel of four doctors has been constituted on the apex court’s directions to monitor Ansari’s health.

    Ansari was lodged in Rupnagar jail in January 2019 in connection with an extortion case.

    The legislator from Mau in eastern Uttar Pradesh is facing 52 cases in the state and elsewhere, and 15 of them are in the trial stage.

    The BJP-run Uttar Pradesh government had accused the Congress government in Punjab of shielding Ansari for several months by not letting the state take custody.

    Punjab’s home department had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to take Ansari’s custody by April 8, following the March 26 Supreme Court order that had set a two-week deadline.

    The apex court had noted that Ansari was allegedly involved in cases of murder, attempt to murder, cheating and conspiracy, apart from offences under the Gangsters Act.

    It said his custody was being denied to the Uttar Pradesh Police on trivial grounds under the guise of medical issues.

    The SC also said a convict or an undertrial who disobeys the law of the land cannot oppose his transfer from one prison to another and the courts cannot be helpless bystanders when the rule of law is being challenged with impunity.

    As Uttar Pradesh takes charge of the high-profile undertrial, his wife Afshan Ansari moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to the state authorities to ensure his safety, including from a police encounter.

  • Court summons Mukhtar Ansari to frame charges in 21-year-old case of jail rioting

    By PTI
    LUCKNOW: A special MP-MLA court here has summoned gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari for framing of charges on April 12 in an 21-year-old case in which jail officials were allegedly assaulted inside the Lucknow jail premises by him and his associates.

    Special judge PK Rai is also set to frame charges against co-accused Yusuf Chisti, Aalam, Kallu Pundit and Lalji Yadav.

    Chisti and Aalam are already in judicial custody, while Pundit and Yadav are on bail.

    Since Mukhtar Ansari, the BSP MLA of Mau, was not being produced in the court, it was not able to frame charges against the accused in the case.

    The court had repeatedly written to top officers of UP Police and also directed Punjab jail officials to produce Ansari in the case.

    The FIR in the matter was filed by jailer SN Dwivedi with Alambagh police station in Lucknow on April 3, 2000.

    It was alleged in the FIR that on the day, some detainees were brought back to the jail after their hearing in the court.

    Ansari’s men started assaulting a detainee Chand. On hearing the commotion, jailer Dwivedi, deputy jailer Baijnath Ram Chaurasia, and some others rushed there and tried to rescue Chand.

    However, they were also assaulted badly and could be saved only when an alarm was raised.

    Ansari was named along with other accused in the case.

    After the probe, all the accused were charge-sheeted under various sections of IPC including rioting.

    The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday took custody of Ansari, leaving with him from Punjab’s Rupnagar jail in a convoy headed 900 km away for a prison in Banda.

  • SAD demands probe into use of private ambulance by Mukhtar Ansari

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday sought a probe into the use of a private ambulance by Punjab police for ferrying gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from jail to a court last week.

    “It has also come to light that the Punjab Police allowed Ansari to commander a private ambulance to ferry him to a Mohali court from the Rupnagar jail in violation of all norms.

    This ambulance has now been found abandoned near Rupnagar”, Shiromani Akai Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema said.

    He claimed all this has lent credence to the assertions of the Uttar Pradesh police that the Punjab government was “in cahoots” with Ansari and that there were “orders from the very top to facilitate him in every manner possible.”

    “There cannot be any other answer as to why the Punjab Police allowed Ansari the use of a private ambulance which had been registered on the basis of fake documents.

    This could be part of a bigger conspiracy which needs to the unearthed by a free and fair probe by a central agency,” Cheema said in a statement here.

    The ambulance, which was used to ferry Ansari to a Mohali court was found abandoned outside a roadside eatery at Chandigarh-Nangal highway in Punjab’s Rupnagar district on Saturday.

    The BSP MLA from Mau, who is wanted in Uttar Pradesh for various cases, was taken in the ambulance from Rupnagar jail to a Mohali court in connection with an alleged 2019 extortion matter on March 31.

    A case was registered in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki after the documents of the ambulance were found to be fake and one person was arrested on Monday.

    The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal had earlier accused the Punjab government of giving “political shelter” to Ansari by keeping him in Rupnagar jail as a “state guest” on “trumped-up charges”.

    The Supreme Court had recently directed the Punjab government to hand over the custody of Ansari to the Uttar Pradesh Police within two weeks after which a UP police team left for Punjab on Monday.

  • 100 UP cops in 20 vehicles leave for Punjab to bring Mukhtar Ansari back to state

    Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: A special contingent of Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday left Banda for Punjab in 20 vehicles to take mafia don Mukhtar Ansari into their custody and bring him back to the state.

    The convoy was divided into three teams and went to Punjab in three different routes which has been kept confidential.

    On reaching Ropar, the senior officers will take a call on one of the three routes to be taken to bring the gangster back to Uttar Pradesh. The police contingent comprises PAC jawans, an ambulance with a team of doctors, pharmacists, and paramedics from Banda district hospital, a circle officer, two inspectors, six head constables, and 40 constables.

    The ambulance accompanying the fleet of vehicles is equipped with all the life-saving and emergency equipment including oxygen cylinders etc.

    Ansari, a sitting BSP MLA from Mau, has been lodged in Ropar jail since January 2019. He would be brought back to UP after more than two years as he faces around 52 criminal cases ranging from murder, abduction, extortion, intimidation pending in the MP-MLA Court in Prayagraj.

    The Punjab Police agreed to hand over the gangster only after the intervention of the Supreme Court which passed an order on March 26 directing the Punjab government to shift Mukhtar Ansari to UP within two weeks. UP police team had returned empty-handed nine times from Punjab in the past.

    Prayagraj ADG Prem Prakash has been entrusted with the responsibility of making fool-proof arrangements for bringing Ansari safely back to Banda. The entire operation is led by I-G Chitrakoot Dham K Sathyanarayana.

    The special team has been properly briefed about the safety precautions they have to take after securing the custody of mafia don from Ropar Jail authorities. Ansari will be sitting in the Vajra vehicle which is specially designed by the DRDO for police to control riots.

    As per the sources, senior police and district officials met late Sunday night to give a final shape to mafia don’s security plan.

    A three-layered security blanket has been thrown around the Banda jail where two barracks have been merged to form a high security ‘tanhai cell’ where Ansari will be housed. He will undergo a thorough medical checkup and Covid test at the jail hospital and then will be kept in isolation at the barrack.

    The outermost security ring will be manned by two teams of civil police each led by an SI-rank officer and 10 armed constables. The second security ring would comprise special CCTVs that have been installed at the entry points and a team of five jail officials deputed to keep an eye on footage round-the-clock. The third and the innermost ring comprise a team of jail warders to ensure the security of the former gangster.