Lucknow: Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was Wednesday acquitted in a 13-year-old attempt-to-murder case lodged at the Mohammadabad police station of Ghazipur.
Ansari was accused of criminal conspiracy in the case, which pertains to an alleged murder attempt on Mohammadabad resident Meer Hasan. In November 2009, two men had allegedly shot at Meer Hasan and later threatened him to meet Ansari in jail.
The acquittal, however, spells small relief for the gangster, who has been lodged at UP’s Banda jail since 2015.
Since September 2022, he has been convicted in four cases.
On 21 September last year, Mukhtar was convicted by the Allahabad High Court in connection with allegations that he assaulted a jailor in 2003. This was, however, set aside this January by the Supreme Court on appeal. The apex court said the HC verdict didn’t prove Ansari’s acquittal in the case by a trial court was perverse in law.
On 22 September, Ansari was convicted in a 1999 case lodged under the stringent Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act — or Gangster Act — in Lucknow.
Then, a Ghazipur court convicted Mukhtar Ansari and aide Bheem Singh in a Gangster Act case dating back to 1996. On 29 April, he was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment by an MP/MLA court in Ghazipur in connection with a Gangster Act case lodged against him in 2007.
The case was lodged against him and his politician brother Afzal Ansari on the basis of rioting witnessed in the city in the aftermath of the brutal 2005 murder of MLA Krishnanand Rai, and other cases, including the 1997 abduction and murder of coal trader Nand Kishore Rungta.
Rungta was also an officebearer of the Varanasi VHP unit.
Also Read: Gangsters Act: The controversial law behind Yogi govt’s crackdown on dons like Mukhtar Ansari
Meer Hasan case
Speaking to mediapersons, government counsel Neeraj Srivastava said the Meer Hasan case dates back to 24 November 2009.
“In that case, a chargesheet was filed against Mukhtar under IPC 120-b (criminal conspiracy). In 2010, the main accused in the case, Sonu Yadav, who is said to have opened fire on Hasan, was acquitted in connection with the case. Till then, charges had not been framed against Mukhtar,” he added.
Srivastava said the court observed that the main accused had been acquitted in the case, and acquitted Mukhtar on the same grounds, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
Mukhtar’s lawyer Liyakat Ali told the media that the FIR was lodged against unknown persons, and Mukhtar was initially not named in it.
“Meer Hasan, a resident of Mohammadabad, had lodged an FIR alleging a deadly attack on his life. He was the complainant in the case and had lodged a case against unknown persons under IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder),” he added.
“Mukhtar Ansari had been lodged in jail since 25 October 2005, while the incident is said to have occurred in 2009. He was made an accused in connection with the case even as he was in jail. He was not named in the FIR but was made an accused under 120-b (criminal conspiracy) later (during the course of investigation). Today, the court acquitted him of conspiracy charges,” he said.
Srivastava confirmed that Mukhtar will not come out of jail yet.
Another judgment this weekend
On 20 May, another judgment is set to be delivered in a Gangster Act case against Mukhtar Ansari.
This case was lodged after a gang chart was prepared against him on the basis of the 2009 Kapil Dev Singh murder case and the Meer Hasan case (Gangster Act proceedings involve a bunch of cases together).
“A judgment is pending in that case, so I can’t comment before that,” Ali said when asked about the upcoming judgment.
“From the defence side, we have pleaded that a case is not made out against my client and he be released from jail.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)