Awadhesh Rai murder case: Who is Mukhtar Ansari, the gangster-politician sentenced to life imprisonment?

The mafias of Uttar Pradesh are undoubtedly having a difficult year. In the 1991 murder case of Awadhesh Rai, a Varanasi court on Monday sentenced gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to life imprisonment, according to news agency ANI. The elder brother of Congressman Ajay Rai, Awadhesh Rai, was fatally shot on 3 August 1991, outside his Lahurabir home. Ansari and others were the targets of a case that was filed in the matter. “Mukhtar has been convicted in the Awadhesh Rai murder case of 1991. The court will pronounce its judgment later in the day,” a lawyer told reporters in Varanasi. Who is Mukhtar Ansari? Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been an influential figure in eastern UP, particularly in Ghazipur. He has been in charge of the clan, which is notorious for romanticising dacoit lands, gang warfare, and other such events. He is related to Mohammad Hamid Ansari, a former vice president of India. His paternal grandfather, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, was a freedom fighter and the leader of the Congress party. Mohammad Usman, his maternal grandfather, was a brigadier in the Indian Army. He received the Mahaveer Chakra posthumously after dying in the Indo-Pak War in 1948, reported Hindustan Times. Ansari established himself as a gangster during the 1970s mafia activity in the Ghazipur area before entering politics. Ansari served a long time in jail, contesting elections several times either from outside or inside. He joined several parties, even starting one at one point. He served as an MLA five times in Uttar Pradesh’s Mau district, which is presently represented by his son Abbas. So he was the only ruler of the tiny borough. [caption id=“attachment_12694692” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari produced before a district court in connection with a money laundering case, in Prayagraj, Wednesday, 28 December 2022. PTI[/caption] Ansari has around 61 cases of land grabbing, extortion, and murder against him and has been incarcerated for more than 15 years. Importantly, Mukhtar Ansari was found guilty once more today despite circumstances in many cases changing. Prior to this, he only received acquittals, and in many cases, eyewitnesses became hostile or even died, according to The Print. Also read: The three faces of Uttar Pradesh mafia: Mukhtar Ansari, Ateeq Ahmed and Azam Khan Political journey Ansari began his political career as a leader of the student union at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in the early 1990s. He was subsequently chosen as an MLA in 1996. Over time, Ansari rose to become the province of Poorvanchal’s unchallenged ruler. Ansari has profited from the Muslim voter base, according to Hindustan Times. Ansari and his brother joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in 2007. After the accusations of inciting racial unrest in the Mau district turned out to be untrue and motivated, the pair was allowed an entry into the party. While he was imprisoned, Ansari ran for the BSP in the Varanasi district of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. 2010 saw the expulsion of the two from the gathering. The current murder case Awadhesh Rai was the elder brother of Ajay Rai who was earlier in the BJP and campaigned against Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Congress candidate from Varanasi in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The prosecution’s case contends that on 3 August 1991, a group of assailants arrived in a car and started shooting at Awadhesh as he stood in front of his home in Varanasi’s Maldiya neighbourhood. Awadhesh was taken to the hospital by Ajay Rai and a friend, Vijay Pandey, who were on the scene. On arrival, he was, however, pronounced dead. Mukhtar Ansari did not hold an MLA position at the time of the incident, according to NDTV. At the Chetganj police station, a FIR was filed against Mukhtar Ansari, Abdul Kalam, Bheem Singh, Kamlesh Singh, and Rakesh Kumar Srivastava. Ajay Rai filed the complaint, claiming to have seen Mukhtar Ansari and his friends shoot his brother. The murder was the result of a neighbourhood “supremacy dispute,” according to former government attorney Alok Chandra, who had pursued the case, reported Indian Express. A few months later, the case’s investigation was given to the UP Police’s Crime Branch (CID). Surprisingly, the case notebook had mysteriously vanished when it was discovered during the case’s hearing in June 2022, NDTV reported. On the basis of photocopies, the entire case was heard. The verdict was rendered in this case for the first time using duplicate papers. While the case against Bheem Singh and Rakesh Srivastava is ongoing, Kamlesh and Abdul Kalam have passed away. Welcoming the judgement, Ajay Rai said, “This is the end of our many years of waiting. I, my parents, Awadhesh’s daughter and the whole family kept patience… Governments came and went and Mukhtar strengthened himself. But we did not give up. Because of our lawyers’ efforts, today the court has found Mukhtar guilty in the murder case of my brother.” Other pending cases against him According to NDTV, the 1988 murder of local contractor Sachchidanand Rai was the case that brought Mukhtar Ansari to public attention for the first time. After this murder, he is thought to have entered the criminal underworld, and a lengthy list of victims followed. He was implicated in the killing of chief constable Rajendra Singh, the brother of his arch-rival Tribhuvan Singh, beyond the Varanasi police perimeter. Mukhtar Ansari was apprehended by the police in Chandauli in 1991, although it is claimed that he shot two officers before fleeing. Then Mukhtar Ansari began meddling with deals for alcohol, illegal coal trading, and government contracts. His name surfaced once more in the 1996 murder of Assistant Superintendent of Police Uday Shankar Jaiswal, who had gestured for his car to stop. According to reports, Ansari and his assistants dismissed randomly. Ansari gained notoriety as a criminal during the 1997 kidnapping of Rungta, the largest coal trader in Purvanchal. The most dramatic political murder in the annals of Uttar Pradesh have involved Mukhtar Ansari. In November 2005, he is accused of using an AK-47 weapon to murder BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. 400 bullet shells are said to have been found there. From Rai’s body, as many as 21 bullets were found. Ansari was charged with killing Ram Singh Maurya in 2010. Mannat Singh, a neighbourhood contractor who was allegedly murdered by Ansari’s gang in 2009, was allegedly assassinated in front of Maurya. He was charged with assault in 2008 after allegedly hitting a murder witness named Dharmendra Singh. His suspected involvement in an organised criminal network led the Maharashtra government to enforce the severe Maharashtra Control of Organised Criminal Act (MCOCA) on him in 2012. Violence broke out in Mau in October 2005, and he was the subject of numerous accusations that were later refuted. In contrast, Mukhtar Ansari turned himself in to the Ghazipur police and has been imprisoned ever since. Since then, Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister, is rumoured to have had Ansari on his hit list. He is the subject of 61 cases, the most of which are in Ghazipur. Afzal Ansari, a BSP MP, and his brother Mukhtar Ansari were recently given prison terms of 10 and 4 years, respectively, in a 2007 Gangsters Act case. In addition to this, he has also been given penalties in some other cases. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram.