A Varanasi court on June 5 sentenced gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to life imprisonment in the murder of Awadhesh Rai, the brother of Congress leader Ajay Rai. The murder case dates back nearly 32 years ago, to August 3, 1991, when Awadhesh Rai was shot dead outside his house in Varanasi’s Lahurabir area.
Speaking on the verdict, Congress leader Ajay Rai said the fight of 32 years paid off and family members kept their patience despite obstacles created due to the influence of Mr. Ansari. “We did not give up. I, parents, Awadhesh’s daughter and the whole family stood firm,” he told local mediapersons.
This is the fifth case in less than 10 months, in which Mr. Ansari, a five-time MLA who wields influence across Eastern U.P. has been convicted. Earlier in April, a Ghazipur court sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment in an Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act case lodged at Mohammadabad police station in the district in 2007.
Earlier in September 2022, the Allahabad High Court sentenced the five-time MLA 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).
Mr. Ansari, 60, faces more than 60-cases and languishing in jail since 2005 is said to run an alleged criminal syndicate which wields influence in the Ghazipur-Mau-Varanasi region of Eastern U.P. He won three consecutive assembly polls- 2007, 2012 and 2017 from Mau Vidhan Sabha seat while being lodged in jail.
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In the 2022 Assembly polls, his son Abbas Ansari got elected from the seat as MLA. The most infamous murder of which Mr. Ansari is accused of killing of sitting Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from the Mohammadabad Assembly segment, 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 AK-47 rifles; 67 bullets were recovered from the seven bodies.
Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar seat, did not contest the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election and the seat was won by his son Abbas Ansari on a ticket from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which had tied up with the Samajwadi Party.
