A MP-MLA court in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur on Saturday convicted jailed criminal-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a murder and kidnapping case. The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison and imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh.
Mr. Ansari’s elder brother and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Lok Sabha member Afzal Ansari has also been convicted in the same case and sentenced to four years in prison. Mr. Afzal is set to lose his parliamentary membership, as any member convicted for two or more years is automatically disqualified.
The trial of the case took place under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act in which the duo was booked for their involvement in BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai murder case.
This is the fourth case in which Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently lodged at the Banda district jail, has been convicted. Earlier in September 2022, the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court sentenced the jailed gangster to seven years in prison for threatening a jailer and pointing a pistol at him.
He was found guilty of offences under Sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The five-term former Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), Mr. Ansari, 60, faces more than 50-cases and is in prison since 2005. He runs an alleged criminal syndicate which wields influence in Ghazipur-Mau-Varanasi region of Eastern U.P.
Mr. Ansari was also booked under the Gangster act for his involvement in the 1996 kidnapping case of Varanasi businessman Nandkishore Rungta.
He is an accused in the murder case of sitting Krishnanand Rai, who was shot dead while returning back home on November 29, 2005 along with his six aides in Ghazipur. The attackers fired over 400 bullets from six AK-47 rifles and 67 bullets were recovered from the seven bodies.
