ExMLA Mukhtar Ansari laid to rest in Ghazipur amid heavy security
Gangsterturnedpolitician Mukhtar Ansari was laid to rest at the Kali Bagh burial ground in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday amid heavy security.
The former MLA, who had been in jail since 2005, suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday. While his family alleged that he had been poisoned in jail, Opposition leaders have sought a highlevel investigation into his death.
The body was brought to the family’s ancestral burial ground at Yusufpur in Mohammadabad, roughly a kilometre from the Ansaris’ residence, on Saturday morning. A sea of supporters accompanied the body in procession to the burial ground.
The district police faced difficulty in managing the crowd that tried to force its way into the burial ground where entry was restricted. Security personnel, including from the paramilitary, were deployed in thousands around the Ansaris’ residence and the burial ground.
Plea to supporters
Earlier, the family requested supporters to pray for the deceased. In a post on X on Friday, Suhaib Ansari, MLA and nephew of the deceased, said: “My younger uncle Mr. Mukhtar Ansari Sahib passed away last night. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. he will be buried in the Kalibagh graveyard of our Yusufpur Mohammadabad (Ghazipur). You all are requested to pray for the forgiveness of the deceased.”
Mukhtar Ansari, a fivetime former MLA, died on Thursday night within hours of his admission to the Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda district.
“Around 8.25 p.m., convicted/undertrial prisoner Mukhtar Ansari, son of Subhanullah, aged 63, was brought by jail staff to the emergency department at the Rani Durgawati Medical College in an unconscious state. The patient was treated by a team of nine doctors and given all possible medical facilities, but despite all the attempts for recovery, the patient died due to cardiac arrest,” reads the medical bulletin from the hospital.
On March 26, he was admitted to the same hospital after he complained of abdominal pain and later discharged. His family had alleged that he was being “poisoned”.
Mr. Ansari faced more than five dozen cases and had been languishing in jail since 2005. Opposition leaders in the State have demanded a highlevel investigation into the death, with Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav calling for an investigation under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati pushing for a highlevel probe.