Mukhtar Ansari gets 10-year jail in kidnapping, murder cases

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Ansari

mukhtar-ansari Mukhtar Ansari | via Twitter

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was handed a 10-year jail term in by a court in Ghaziapur, Uttar Pradesh, in a 2007 Gangsters Act case. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Ansari, who was booked under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.

His brother and co-accused BSP MP Afzal Ansari was sentenced to four years. The verdict could lead to Afzal Ansari losing his Lok Sabha membership. According to the Representation of the People Act, any member will be disqualified if convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more.

Security was heightened outside the court ahead of the verdict in the kidnapping and murder cases against them both.

Ansari, a five-time former MLA, was booked for his involvement in the 1996 kidnapping case of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Nandkishore Rungta and the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

A murder case was registered against Mukhtar Ansari in January this year in connection with the 2001 'Usri Chatti' gang war incident. He was booked under Sections 302, 147, 148, 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur.

On January 18, Allahabad high court dismissed the March 15 order of the Ghazipur MP-MLA Court, which allowed Ansari to be kept in a superior-class jail in Banda.

In December last year, Ansari and his aide Bhim Singh were sentenced to 10 years in jail in five cases related to murder and attempt to murder, which included the murder of constable Raghuvansh Singh and a murderous assault on an additional SP of Ghazipur among others.

On September 21, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court convicted Ansari and sentenced him in the 2003 case for threatening Lucknow district prison jailer S.K. Awasthi and pointing a pistol at him.

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