Mukhtar taken from Banda jail for court hearing

 

Lucknow: midst apprehension of threat to the life of don-turned-politico Mukhtar Ansari expressed by his family members, the incarcerated don was brought for appearance at the MP/MLA court in Lucknow and later sent back to Banda jail on Monday.

Ansari was taken out of Banda jail in an ambulance early Monday morning and was brought to Lucknow by road for hearing in the court.

He was earlier brought back from Ropar in Punjab, and lodged in Banda jail.

His son and newly-elected MLA, Abbas Bin Mukhtar Ansari, said that he feared that his father might be harmed in transit.

"I do not understand why he is being shifted without prior information. We came to know that preparations for shifting my father to a Lucknow court started late Sunday night," he said.

Interestingly, the Vajra vehicle attached with Ansari’s security fleet also developed some technical snag soon after leaving Banda district jail.

The escorting personnel somehow got it repaired but finally left the vehicle and proceeded to Lucknow in another vehicle.

Meanwhile, in another significant development, the Barabanki police registered a case against former Bahujan Samaj Party MLA and jailed don Mukhtar Ansari under the Gangsters Act on Sunday.

As per details received, 12 other aides of Ansari were also booked by the police in connection with a case related to the use of an ambulance to transport Ansari to and from the Punjab jail.

 Circle Officer (City) in Barabanki, Aatish Kumar, confirmed that investigations were underway in the case.

The police have named 12 persons from Mau, Ghazipur, Lucknow and Prayagraj for registering an ambulance against a false address and for using it to ferry Ansari to and from Punjab jail.

All the accused in this case have been arrested.

The ambulance (UP 41 AT 7171) was registered on forged paperwork and was used to transport Mukhtar Ansari from a Ropar prison to a Mohali court.

The UP police probed the case in March 2021 and found that the vehicle was registered in Barabanki.

Further investigation revealed that the vehicle was registered in the name of Shyam Sanjeevani Hospital and Research Center owner Dr Alka Rai.

It surfaced that Ansari’s colleagues Rajnath Yadav and Mujahid went to Dr Rai to get her signature on forged papers.

Even the fitness test had not been done since 2017.

The police also claimed that the ambulance was used to carry firearms by Ansari’s gang.

A charge-sheet was filed against all of them under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (forgery), 471 (fraudulently or dishonestly using documents as genuine), 467 (forgery of valuable security), and 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating) of the Indian Penal Code as well as Section 7 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act.

Subsequently, Dr Alka Rai, Dr Sheshnath Rai, Rajnath Yadav, Anand Yadav of village Sarwan, Surendra Sharma, Mohd Shahid, Firoz Qureshi, Afroz alias Chunnu, Zafar alias Chanda, Salim, Mohd Suhaib Mujahid and Mohd Jafri alias Shahid were accused in the case along with Ansari.

A native of Yusufpur in Mohammadabad (Ghazipur) Mukhtar Ansari is a former MLA from Mau and is facing more than 50 criminal charges across the country.

The ex-MLA has spent time in prisons in Ropar, Ghazipur, Mau, Agra and Lucknow on charges of extortion.

His gang is listed in Uttar Pradesh’s records as IS (inter-state) gang 191 and his assets have been seized under Section 14A of the Gangsters Act and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act. Ansari, his family and his cronies have lost properties worth Rs 390 crore as a result of recent actions initiated by UP Police. (Agencies)