On Monday, June 4th 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted by a court in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi in a thirty-two-year-old murder case and sentenced to life imprisonment and fined one lac fine.
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This is Ansari’s sixth conviction in the sixty-one criminal cases against him. But who is Mukhtar Ansari and what about this 32-year-old murder case whose decision is making sounds all over India?
Former Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Mau constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Mukhtar Ansari is an Indian politician. He was born in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, on June 30, 1963.
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh, is Mukhtar Ansari’s party. He has a reputation for being controversial and has been accused of committing several crimes over the years, including murder, attempted murder, extortion, and kidnapping.
Ansari, who represents the Mau constituency, has won multiple elections for the MLA position. He has, however, spent a considerable period in jail because of his criminal charges. He has taken part in many political coalitions and has changed parties. The BSP suspended Ansari’s membership in 2019 because of his criminal history.
He has been convicted by a Varanasi court in the congress leader Awadhesh Rai’s murder case, who was shot dead outside his Lahurabir residence on Aug 3, 1991.
Mukhtar is an influenced goon who knows how to control his fiefdom through money and power. His influence stretched across Mau Ghazipur, Varanasi, Ballia, and Chandauli of UP and neighboring areas of Bihar.
In the early 90s, he left his property business and contract work of crime. He has a long list of murders to his credit, like the killing of BJP’s legislator Krishnanand Rai in broad daylight out of the election defeat of his brother Afzal. He was later found not guilty in the 2021 murder trial of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, although he still has other active criminal charges.
Ansari was also charged with the murder of Ajay Prakash Singh, a former Varanasi District Magistrate. Singh was allegedly killed in 2001 because of a land dispute.
He entered politics in 1996 on a BSP ticket and his last term was in the assembly election in 2017 from Mau. This tycoon has a “Robin Hood” like generosity who protects the poor and weaker people and maintains the brotherhood. Since 2005, he has been in jail for different charges against him.
Ajay Rai spoke to the media and shared his two cents on the court orders against Mukhtar Ansari. Ajay said their 32 years old struggle for justice for his brother, his family, and his daughter have ended.
His family’s patience let them wait for three decades and now finally justice has been served. Ajay Rai, who previously served as a BJP leader, campaigned against Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 and 2019.
Rai has also been booked in several criminal cases over the years. When he was contesting against PM Modi in 2014, Ansari’s party (QED) Qaumi Ekta Dal announced support for him.
The court is under sections 302 (murder) and 149 (offense) committed by any member of the unlawful assembly of IPC. Although Mukhtar has met his fate for his unlawful actions, this is not the rarest of the rare case, as mentioned by the judge.
Mukhtar’s lawyer Shrinath Tripathi has shared that they will file an appeal against this order in the high court. According to him, the prosecution could not reply to the points mentioned in the defense arguments and thus justice is expected from the high court.
Mukhtar Ansari appeared before the court on Monday via videoconference. He pleaded innocence. Ansari was shocked when MP-MLA court special judge Avanish Gautam declared him guilty during the first portion of Monday’s sessions but withheld the harshness of the penalty.
Because of his senior age and failing health, he pleaded with the judge to lower the punishment. He said that he had been the target of false accusations.
Let’s have a flashback to the murder of Awadhesh Rai in 1991. Congress leader Awadesh Rai’s brother Ajay Rai is a former state legislator and the current regional head of the party’s Uttar Pradesh branch.
A vehicle carrying several attackers arrived and opened fire at him on August 3, 1991. He was rushed to the hospital but sustained injuries and succumbed to death. An FIR was lodged against five people, namely Mukhtar Ansari, Abdul Kaleem, Bheem Singh, Kamlesh Singh, and Rakesh Kumar Srivastava at the Chetgani Police Station.
Ajay Rai was the complainant who was an eyewitness to his brother’s murder. Kamlesh and Abdul Kaleem are no more in this world, so the case against Bheem Singh and Rakesh Srivastava is still going strong. Ajay sighed in relief and is happy that the sun of 4th June witnessed that the 32-year-old battle against justice has seen its true color.
Ajay Kumar Lallu wrote to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Governor Anandiben Patel in 2021 after the UP police took custody of Ansari in Punjab and brought him back to the state of Uttar Pradesh Congress, requesting that Rai’s security cover be reinstated as an eyewitness to the murder case against Mukhtar Ansari.
The latest news is that the security of Judge Awanish Gautum has been increased after the court’s verdict against Mukhtar Ansari. Ajay Rai has also raised concerns over security and has stated that if anything happens to him, the BJP government will be responsible for the loss.
