Mukhtar Ansari, a politician, died on Thursday due to cardiac arrest at Banda Medical College and was buried at an ancestral graveyard today in Mohammadabad, Ghazipur District.
Security measures were beefed up outside the residence of Mukhtar Ansari ahead of the last rites on Saturday, including the deployment of paramilitary forces. DIG of Varanasi Range, O.P. Singh, confirmed that tight security was deployed throughout the area.
After his death, Ghazipur witnessed total chaos as his supporters gathered in huge numbers, breaking the barricades to enter the graveyard. People took part in large numbers in the funeral procession in Ghazipur, irrespective of the security measures, and many were seen raising slogans.
The body was taken to the Kali Bagh burial ground, where a grave was dug on Friday, according to sources. Mukhtar was buried next to his mother’s graveyard. His son, Ansari, and brother, Afzal Ansari, were present at the funeral.
Poisoned or Cardiac Arrest?
In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP-MLA court.
On March 13, 2024, he was also sentenced to life imprisonment for obtaining an arms license in 1990 after forging documents. The former MLA had been booked in more than 60 cases and was lodged in the district jail.
On March 20, Mukhtar’s lawyer accused the jail authority of poisoning him, and on March 25, he was taken to Banda Hospital after he collapsed in the jail.
On March 27, his family alleged slow poisoning to be the reason for his death and filed an application in the MP-MLA Court alleging conspiracy to kill Mukhtar.
On March 28, he once again felt pain and was taken to Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda, where he was announced dead due to cardiac arrest.
Autopsy reports conducted by a panel of five doctors confirmed Ansari died of cardiac arrest, however a judicial inquiry has been ordered by a chief judicial magistrate’s court in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda to investigate the death of Ansari. The Chief Judicial Magistrate ordered Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (MP-MLA Court Banda) Garima Singh to head the investigation. The CJM has sought the probe report within a month.
On March 29, following the examination, Ansari’s body was transported from Banda to Ghazipur via a 400-kilometer route, with police vehicles accompanying the ambulance amid heavy security arrangements.
Politicians Critisize Yogi Government
On Friday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav targeted the BJP-led government of Uttar Pradesh, led by Yogi Adityanath, over the death of politician Mukhtar Ansari in jail. He demanded that all such suspicious fatalities in custody be probed under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. BSP chief Mayawati also pressed for a high-level probe into Ansari’s death.
“Uttar Pradesh is going through the worst phase of ‘government anarchy’. This is ‘zero hour’ of law and order in UP,” Akhilesh posted on X.
“All such doubtful cases should be investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. The way the government bypasses the judicial process and adopts other methods is completely illegal” He further added, “A government that cannot protect life has no right to remain in power.”
Why Discharged in Haste?
Afzal Ansari, a brother of Mukhter is the SP candidate from Ghazipur seat in this year’s general elections. He has been five-time MLA and two-time Lok Sabha MP.
SP questioned the haste for taking Mukhtar back to the jail even when he wasn’t well. “What was the hurry to send him back when he was not well,” said Suhaib Ansari, SP MLA from Mohammadabad.
In his post, the SP chief also referred to alleged fake encounters “in the garb of accidents and dressed-up suicides”. “Failure of the state to provide adequate protection in any of these situations will shake people’s confidence in the justice system,” the SP chief wrote. Mayawati also alluded to “doubts” raised by Ansari’s family. “A high-level inquiry is necessary so that the actual cause of his death is known,” she said.
