Mukhtar Ansari Death News: Mukhtar Ansari’s Autopsy Will Be Conducted Today (File)
New Delhi:
Gangster and politician Mukhtar Ansari died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh late last night.
Ansari was rushed to hospital in Banda after he fell unconscious at the district jail around 8.45pm. He died during treatment at Rani Durgavati Medical College after cardiac arrest.
The family of Mukhtar Ansari – who has been in prison in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh since 2005 – claims he was poisoned in prison.
“Mukhtar said he was given a poisonous substance in his food in prison. This happened for the second time. He was also given poison about 40 days ago. And recently, on March 19, he was given this (poison) again. due to which his condition was bad,” his brother Afzal Ansari told PTI.
Mukhtar Ansari’s son Umar also alleged that his father was given poison in the food and said he would approach the court. “We have said this before and even today we will say the same. On March 19, he was poisoned at dinner. We will move to the judiciary, we have full confidence in it…,” he said.
Mukhtar Ansari’s lawyer had earlier this month alleged in court that there was a threat to his life in Banda jail and that he had been given a poisonous substance along with his food.
Several politicians including RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati have called for an inquiry into the allegations leveled by the dreaded gangster family.
After his death, security was stepped up outside the hospital and prohibitory orders were imposed across the state to maintain law and order.
Officials said special forces had also been deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi districts of eastern Uttar Pradesh, where Ansari allegedly exerts influence through a criminal syndicate.
Ansari’s autopsy will be conducted today at Banda Medical College Hospital.
Ansari was also admitted to hospital in the early hours of Tuesday and discharged after almost 14 hours. The prison department had said that Ansari’s health had deteriorated as he was fasting during Ramadan and he had fallen in the washroom.
Ansari, the five-time former MLA from Mau, had more than 1,000 criminal cases against him, 15 of which related to murder.
He had joined a gang in the 1980s and formed his own gang in the 1990s. The gang was involved in extortion and kidnapping in Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Jaunpur districts.