Mau woman doc, brother arrested

LUCKNOW : Police on Tuesday arrested a Mau-based woman hospital owner and medical practitioner Dr Alka Rai and her brother Dr Sheshnath Rai in connection with a fresh case of gangster act slapped against jailed Mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his 12 gang members for use of a luxury ambulance for transporting Ansari to court and other places when he was lodged in a Punjab jail.

Ansari’s transportation in the luxury ambulance was reported in April last year, said Barabanki police officials.

They added that after investigation it was found that the vehicle was registered on a fake address and so charges of fraud and forgery were added to the cases against the accused persons. Barabanki superintendent of police (SP) Anurag Vats confirmed the arrest of the Rais in connection with the gangster case registered on Sunday.

He said 13 people, including Ansari, Alka Rai and her brother, have been made accused. Five of these people, including Ansari, Alka Rai and her brother, were now in jail while efforts were on to arrest the remaining eight accused in the case, he said.

Notably, Ansari is currently lodged in Banda jail.

Another police official said Alka Rai and Sheshnath Rai were arrested by Mau police during the wee hours on Tuesday and taken to Barabanki.

He said the two were arrested in April 2021 also when their role had surfaced in providing the ambulance to Ansari.

He said the ambulance was registered on a fake address of Barabanki, in the name of Alka Rai’s hospital in Mau, since December 2013 and was being used by Ansari for his transportation from jail.

The Barabanki police had registered an FIR against Alka Rai and others on April 1, 2021 with the city kotwali police on a complaint of Barabanki assistant road transport officer (ARTO) Pankaj Singh.

On April 3, they constituted a special investigation team (SIT), under the supervision of an additional SP rank officer, which is investigating the case.