New Delhi: Mukhtar Ansari, a don-turned-politician, and 12 others have been booked under the Gangster Act for allegedly using an ambulance to commute from jail to a Punjab court.


In addition to Ansari, 12 people from the districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Lucknow, and Prayagraj have been named in the case, PTI quoted police as saying. Police said the accused have already been imprisoned.




Former BSP MLA Ansari was brought back from Ropar in Punjab to Uttar Pradesh's Banda jail around a year ago.



Superintendent of Police Anurag Vats said the case against Ansari was registered on Sunday under the Gangsters Act at the Nagar Kotwali after approval from the District Magistrate.


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"While being lodged in a Punjab jail, Ansari was found using a private ambulance to travel to court. This ambulance was registered in Barabanki's Regional Transport Office (RTO) office on March 21, 2013," an official was quoted by PTI in its report.


When the matter cam to light on March 31, 2021, the Kotwali Nagar police filed a forgery case against Dr Alka Rai, the manager of Mau's Shyam Sanjeevani Hospital.


During the inquiry, they discovered that the ambulance was registered under a bogus address.


Vats said the police filed the first case of forgery in the ambulance case on April 2, 2021, and three months later, on July 4, 2021, they filed a chargesheet against all the accused in the court.


The 12 people against whom FIR has been lodged include Rai and Dr Sheshnath Rai, police said.


(With PTI Inputs)