Mukhtar Ansari, a jailed gangster turned politician, died of a cardiac arrest after being admitted to the hospital on Thursday evening. The five-time former MLA from Mau, Uttar Pradesh, had been imprisoned in both the state and Punjab since 2005. In a conversation with ABP News, Mukhtar Ansari's brother, Sibgatullah Ansari, said on Friday that "there was a conspiracy" surrounding the death of the jailed former gangster-turned-politician.
Notably, Ansari's death occurred three months after his legal representatives petitioned the Supreme Court, citing a potential threat to his life while in custody.
Ansari had fallen unconscious, according to government doctors, but two days before his death, his brother Afzal Ansari, a former Member of Parliament and Samajwadi Party candidate for Ghazipur in 2024, publicly claimed that he was poisoned in jail as part of a "conspiracy" to murder him.
In December 2023, Mukhtar's younger son, Umar Ansari, approached the Supreme Court, believing that the state government was planning to assassinate him in Banda jail, where he was a convict and accused in several criminal cases.
Sibgatullah told ABP News that the post-mortem examination had not yet taken place. He mentioned that had the body arrived, funeral proceedings would have commenced at the Kali Bari graveyard by Friday evening.
Following the completion of the post-mortem examination, Mukhtar Ansari's remains are slated to be handed over to his son, Umar Ansari.
Ansari's brother told ABP News, expressing profound sorrow, "A mountain of sorrows has fallen on us. Everyone knows how the death occurred. It is a huge loss for us. Son Umar Banda has gone. Efforts are being made to get Abbas Ansari out on parole so that he can attend the funeral. There is an attempt to file an application in Allahabad High Court".
Magisterial Probe Launched Into Mukhtar Ansari's Death:
A three-member team has been appointed to conduct a magisterial investigation into Mukhtar Ansari's death. A panel of two doctors will oversee the post-mortem procedure which will be recorded on video.
Umar Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari's son, alleged that his father was poisoned through his food and stated the family's intention to pursue legal recourse in response to the incident. Mukhtar Ansari was transferred to Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda while unconscious, from the district jail.
READ | 'My Father Was Given Slow Poison': Son Umar On Mukhtar Ansari's Death
Earlier in the week, Afzal Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari's brother and Member of Parliament from Ghazipur, had raised concerns about Ansari being subjected to "slow poisoning" in jail, a claim rebuffed by the authorities.
Mukhtar Ansari, born into an influential family in 1963, navigated the realms of crime and politics in Uttar Pradesh. He faced accusations in 63 criminal cases, including 14 counts of murder, resulting in convictions and sentences in eight of these cases since September 2022.