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Top Uttar Pradesh opposition leaders on Friday, March 29, 2024, demanded high-level investigation into the death of jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, with the Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav calling for an investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court Judge and alleging that Uttar Pradesh is going through the worst phase of ‘government anarchy’.
Mukhtar Ansari’s son, Umar Ansari, alleged that the 63-year-old five-time former MLA was being “slow-poisoned” by a substance mixed in food given to him in the Banda jail.
“My father wrote to courts and told that he was being subjected to ‘slow poison’, the entire country now knows about it,” said the deceased’s son.
Ansari died of cardiac arrest on Thursday, March 28, 2024, within hours after he was rushed to the Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda district, according to the hospital’s medical bulletin.
“It is the primary responsibility and duty of the government to protect someone’s life in every situation and at every place. The death of a prisoner will erode public confidence in the judicial process,” wrote the SP president Akhilesh Yadav on X, mentioning situations like on falling ill inside the prison, while being taken to the hospital etc. Mr. Yadav added, “all such doubtful cases should be investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. The way the government bypasses the judicial process and adopts other methods is completely illegal. A government that cannot protect life has no right to remain in power. Uttar Pradesh is going through the worst phase of ‘government anarchy’. This is ‘zero hour’ of law and order in U.P.,”.
Four-time former U.P. CM and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati demanded high-level investigation over the death in view of serious allegation by the family of the deceased. “The persistent apprehensions and serious allegations made by Mukhtar Ansari’s family regarding his death in jail require a high-level investigation so that the true facts of his death can be revealed. In such a situation, it is natural for his family to be sad. May nature give them the strength to bear this sorrow,” said Ms. Mayawati.
Amid the news of the late Ansari’s death and likely funeral today in Ghazipur, shops and markets remained closed in many U.P. towns, including Ghazipur. Mr. Ansari, 63, a five-time former MLA faced more than five dozen cases and languishing in jail since 2005. He wields influence in Ghazipur-Mau-Varanasi region of eastern U.P. His elder brother Afzal Ansari is the Lok Sabha member from Ghazipur.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh police imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), across the state following the death of the former MLA. In districts of Kanpur, Banda, Mau, Varanasi and Ghazipur, U.P. police conducted flag march along with additional deployment of police personnel.
