Gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva shot dead: Who was compounder-turned-dreaded underworld shooter?

On Wednesday, gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on the premises of a  Lucknow court. Jeeva, the aide of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, was killed by a man dressed as a lawyer. Two persons were also injured in the shooting. “Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva, who was held in Lucknow jail, was brought to the court for hearing in a case and was shot dead by an unknown assailant,” Lucknow Police Commissioner SB Shiradkar said shortly after the incident. But who was Jeeva? Let’s take a closer look: According to Indian Express, the 48-year-old originally hailed from Muzaffarnagar. His parents were Om Prakash Maheshwari and Kunti Maheshwari. Jeeva and his wife Payal have three sons and a daughter.

Before becoming a dreaded member of the underworld, Jeeva was a compounder.

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According to News18, Jeeva worked at a local clinic in Muzaffarnagar. “Maheshwari was a simple family man, who was working as a compounder at a doctor’s clinic in Muzaffarnagar before getting involved in crime,” retired IPS officer Akhilesh Mehrotra said. Mehrotra added that Jeeva had the ‘mind of a criminal’ and had even kidnapped the owner of the clinic in which he worked. After that, Jeeva allegedly kidnapped the son of a Kolkata businessman – and demanded a hefty sum of Rs 2 crore. He soon followed up with another alleged kidnapping – this time, the son of a businessman from Kolkata – and even demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore, as per News18. He is an accused in the murder of a BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai– a case in which Ansari is also an accused. [caption id=“attachment_12694682” 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] According to Indian Express, the dreaded shooter was accused in several other high-profile cases including the murder of BJP leaders Brahm Dutt Dwivedi and Krishna Nand Rai. Jeeva was convicted in Dwivedi’s murder – in which Ansari was also an accused – but acquitted in the murder of Rai. While he was convicted in the 1997 murder case of Dwivedi, he was acquitted in the 2005 murder of Rai. In all, he was an accused in 24 cases and been acquitted in 17 of them. Jeeva was involved in cases of murder, kidnapping, extortion, dacoity in Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Hardiwar, and Farrukhabad, according to the report. Jeeva was a close associate of Munna Bajrangi who was shot dead in 2018 in Baghpat jail. After Bajrangi’s death, Jeeva’s wife Payal in 2021 raised concern over her husband’s safety.

Payal recently said that she feared her husband would be killed in custody.

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Jeeva in 2017, while lodged in Mainpuri district jail, managed to get his wife Payal a Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) ticket from Muzaffarnagar. Payal would go on to lose the election. Jeeva had come to the SC/ST court for a hearing on Wednesday afternoon, police said. Jeeva succumbed to his wounds after receiving multiple injuries. The accused assailant, identified as Vijay Yadav of Kerakat in Jaunpur district, was overpowered and handed over to the police. However, he was beaten up so badly by other lawyers that his condition is said to be critical. A minor girl who was present in the court, has also received a gunshot injury on her back. A police constable was also injured in the attack and has been sent to Lucknow Civil Hospital for treatment. Meanwhile, after the shootout, police faced the ire of lawyers who pelted stones at them. Additional forces have been rushed to the spot. Ansari on Monday was given a life sentence in the murder of a Congress leader’s brother, Awadhesh Rai, more than 30 years ago. Awadhesh, the brother of Congress leader Ajay Rai, was shot dead on 3 August, 1991, at the gate of his Lahurabir residence in Varanasi. A case was registered against Ansari and others. Ansari faces 61 criminal cases in different states of which he has now been convicted in six. In April, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail by a court in Ghazipur under the Gangsters Act. 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.