Mukhtar Ansari lived in constant fear in jail

LUCKNOW: At least four of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's close aides were killed in custody since 2018, making him fear for his own life.

The five-time Mau MLA's son Umar Ansari had even filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court apprehending the ''assassination'' of his father in jail.

The 63-year-old Mukhtar Ansari was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from the district jail in ''an unconscious state'' on Thursday evening and died at the hospital following a cardiac arrest.

The noose around Mukhtar Ansari, who had over 60 cases lodged against him, began tightening after the BJP government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017. A year after the change of government Ansari, the five-time MLA from Mau, got a blow when his close aide Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi was killed in Baghpat jail.

Bajrangi was killed by another gangster Sunil Rathi on July 9, 2018, a day after he was brought to Baghpat jail from Jhansi jail.

According to senior police officials, Mukhtar Ansari was jittery after the sensational murder and his lawyers began making efforts to get him shifted outside Uttar Pradesh. In January 2019, he was taken to Ropar Jail in Punjab in connection with an extortion case. Despite 23 reminders to the Punjab government, Mukhtar Ansari stayed in Ropar Jail for almost two years. The then Congress government in Punjab led by Capt Amarinder Singh kept avoiding his transfer from Ropar Jail citing his medical condition.

Ansari was eventually brought back and sent to Banda Jail in April 2021 following the Supreme Court orders. Just weeks after Mukhtar Ansari returned, his two aides Merajuddin and Mukeem Kala were shot dead by another gangster inside Chitrakoot jail. Anshu Dixit, the gangster who killed the duo, was also gunned down by the police.

In June last year, gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, another aide of Mukhtar Ansari, was shot dead by an assailant inside the court premises in Lucknow in broad daylight.

Maheshwari had 26 cases lodged against him, including the murder of BJP lawmaker Brahm Dutt Dwivedi. Along with Munna Bajrangi, Jeeva was also a co-accused with Mukhtar Ansari in the murder of sitting BJP MLA Krishnanad Rai.

The murders of Jeeva and Munna Bajrangi were also mentioned in the writ petition filed by Umar Ansari in the Supreme Court in December last year. Apprehending that the state government was planning to ''assassinate'' his father in Banda jail, Umar Ansari had appealed to transfer Mukhtar Ansari to a jail outside the state.

In response to the writ petition, the Uttar Pradesh government on December 15 assured the apex court that ''necessary augmentation of security as needed will be made'' to ensure that no harm is done to Mukhtar Ansari while in custody.

While his aides were being killed the state government kept the heat on Mukhtar Ansari. According to information provided by the police headquarters, the police took action against 292 people linked to Mukhtar Ansari. Several of these associates were booked under the Gangsters Act while 186 were arrested, till December 2023.

The state government also attached properties worth crores linked to Mukhtar Ansari or his aides across the state and broke the financial backing that supported his criminal empire, senior officials said.