Indian mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari awarded life imprisonment in Awadhesh Rai murder case

Dreaded gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been convicted in a 32-year-old murder case and awarded life imprisonment. A Varanasi court in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh found him guilty of the murder of Awadesh Rai on Monday (June 5).The court had reserved its judgement after hearing a final round of arguments from both sides on May 19.

The jailed mafia don who has been a five-time MLA was charged with the murder of Rai, a Congress leader in 1991. Awadhesh was the brother of former MLA Ajai Rai and he was shot outside the latter's house in Varanasi.

After the killing, Ajay Rai lodged an FIR against Ansari, naming him in the complaint. Bheem Singhm former MLA late Abdul Kalam, Rakesh Nyayik and two others were also named in the FIR.

"Today, we have won after a 32-year-long battle. We welcome the verdict of the court...If any incident happens with me, its responsibility will be on the BJP government," said Rai after the verdict was announced.

#WATCH | Today, we have won after a 32-year-long battle. We welcome the verdict of the court...If any incident happens with me, its responsibility will be on the BJP govt: Ajay Rai, Congress leader & brother of Awadhesh Rai on life imprisonment for jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari pic.twitter.com/gqBWzYvMRo — ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2023

Interestingly, after the case was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Department(CID),it was found during one of the hearings that the case diary had disappeared. Afterwards, the entire case was heard on the basis of photocopies, making it the first such instance when a verdict has been pronounced based on duplicate papers.

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Second conviction for Ansari

This is the second conviction that Ansari has received in as many months. In April, he was convicted by a Ghazipur court in a Gangster Act case filed after the kidnapping and murder of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Ansari, produced virtually before a special court for MP/MLA, was also fined Rs 500,000 (approx. US $6116) and handed a 10-year prison sentence.

Mukhtar Ansari's elder brother and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Member of Parliament (MP) Afzal Ansari, too, was convicted in the case and was sentenced to four years in prison and fined Rs 100,000 (US$1,223 approx.)

Ansari, who has 61 cases registered against him, has been in jail since 2005 after he surrendered in a communal riot case in Mau district in which seven people died. He contested from the Mau Sadar constituency seat five times—twice as a BSP candidate and thrice as an Independent—and won comfortably.

In the last assembly election, Ansari stepped down and fielded his elder son Abbas from the same Mau Sadar seat on the ticket of Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), which had allied with the Samajwadi Party for the polls.

At his prominence, Ansari commanded a reign of fear in the entire state. Politicians in the state, as well as the public, feared him.

(With inputs from agencies)

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