Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died in a hospital after suffering a heart attack while in custody at a jail in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district on Thursday.
The 60-year-old, who had been lodged in Banda jail, was convicted in eight cases over the last two years. Born into an influential family in 1963, Ansari straddled the worlds of crime and politics in Uttar Pradesh.
Despite his criminal background, he managed to secure electoral victories, serving as a five-time MLA from the Mau constituency in eastern UP. However, Ansari’s life was marked by controversy, with a total of 65 cases registered against him in various police stations of UP and Delhi.
According to a statement issued by Banda Medical College, where Ansari was taken after falling ill, he complained of vomiting and subsequently lost consciousness at 8.25 pm. Despite efforts by a team of nine doctors to resuscitate him, Ansari succumbed to a cardiac arrest.
The circumstances surrounding Ansari’s death have raised suspicions, with his family alleging foul play and claiming that he may have been poisoned.
Ansari’s journey from crime to politics
Born on June 30, 1963, in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, Ansari’s entry into the world of crime began at a young age. He was first booked for criminal intimidation at the Saidpur Police Station in Ghazipur when he was just 15 years old. Over the years, Ansari’s criminal activities escalated, with several cases of murder and other serious charges being filed against him.
Ansari hailed from a family with a significant political legacy. His paternal grandfather, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, was a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress and served as its president in 1927. On the maternal side, Brigadier Mohammad Usman, Ansari’s grandfather, was a decorated officer in the Indian Army, he gave his life in the Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir during a confrontation with Pakistan in 1948, receiving the Maha Vir Chakra posthumously.
He found his way into politics in 1996 when he secured his first victory as an MLA in the U.P. assembly, representing Mau on the Bahujan Samaj Party ticket. Subsequently, he continued his political trajectory by winning as an independent candidate in the 2002 and 2007 assembly elections.
In 2012, Ansari founded the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) and successfully clinched the Mau seat once again. His triumph was repeated in 2017. However, in 2022, he relinquished his seat to his son, Abbas Ansari, who won under the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party banner.
Despite his rise in politics, Ansari faced serious legal troubles, with many criminal cases against him, including murder charges. Since 2005, he had been lodged in various jails in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, facing numerous criminal cases, including murder charges. He had been convicted in eight criminal cases since September 2022 alone and was facing trial in 21 other cases.
In December last year, Ansari was sentenced to five years and six months in jail for threatening to kill a businessman in Varanasi in a 26-year-old case. He had also been sentenced to 10 years in prison in a Gangsters Act case in Ghazipur in October 2023 and life imprisonment in a murder and rioting case in Varanasi dating back to 1991 in June 2023.
Criminal cases against Ansari
- In December of last year, Ansari was given a five-year-six-month jail term for threatening to kill a businessman in Varanasi 26 years ago.
- On October 10, 2023, he received a 10-year sentence under the Gangsters Act for a case dating back to 2010 in Ghazipur.
- June 5, 2023, saw Ansari handed a life sentence for a murder and rioting incident from 1991 in Varanasi.
- On April 29, 2023, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for another Gangsters Act case related to the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnand Rai.
- December 15, 2022, saw Ansari receive another 10-year sentence under the Gangsters Act for a case from 1996 in Ghazipur.
- September 23, 2022, resulted in a five-year jail term for Ansari in a Gangsters Act case filed in 1999 at Lucknow’s Hazratganj police station.
- Finally, on September 21, 2022, Ansari was given a seven-year jail term for a 2003 case involving assault, intentional insult, and criminal intimidation.