Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest; Section 144 imposed in UP

Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Banda in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, its principal said.

Prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which bars large gatherings, were imposed across the state and additional security personnel were deployed in the Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi districts of the state.

Ansari was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from the district jail in ''an unconscious state'' and, according to its principal Suneel Kaushal, he died at the hospital following cardiac arrest.

Ansari's brother Afzal Ansari on Tuesday alleged that he was subjected to ''slow poisoning'' in the jail, a charge denied by the authorities.

Ansari, 63, was a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar seat and was behind bars in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab since 2005. He had over 60 criminal cases pending against him.

He was sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts in Uttar Pradesh and was lodged in the Banda jail. His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police Prashant Kumar said prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC were imposed across the state and teams of the Central Reserve Police Force along with the local police deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi.

Ansari, who hailed from Mau, was believed to have a strong influence in the adjoining Ghazipur and Varanasi districts as well.

The social media cell of the Uttar Pradesh Police has also been activated to keep a close watch on unlawful elements online, the DGP said.

According to a medical bulletin, Ansari was brought to the medical college around 8.25 pm on Thursday in an unconscious state after he had complained of vomiting. A team of nine doctors attended to him but he died of cardiac arrest, it stated.

The Samajwadi Party condoled Ansari's death.

''Sad demise of former MLA Shri Mukhtar Ansari. May his soul rest in peace. May the bereaved family members get the strength to bear this immense loss. Humble tribute,'' the party said in a post in Hindi on X.

Earlier, Ansari was hospitalised for around 14 hours on Tuesday after he complained of abdominal pain.

Afzal Ansari, who is also the Ghazipur MP, on Tuesday alleged that his brother was given slow poison in jail.

''Mukhtar said that he was given a poisonous substance in food in jail. This happened for the second time. Around 40 days ago also he was given poison. And recently on March 19 of March 22, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition is bad,'' Afzal Ansari said.

Afzal Ansari also said that during the virtual hearing of a case in a Barabanki court on March 21, Mukhtar's lawyer had filed an application in the court alleging that his client had been given ''slow poison'' in jail due to which his condition was deteriorating.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)