Mukhtar Ansari to be brought from Punjab jail to UP

Mau (Uttar Pradesh): Jailed mafia don and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA Mukhtar Ansari will now be brought to Mau from Punjab's Mohali jail on October 21 for interrogation in a case of fraud and Arms Act lodged against him in January.

Mau Superintendent of Police (SP) Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan, said, "Warrant B has been procured by the district police from the Chief Judicial Magistrate court in a case of sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 467, 468 (forgery), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC and 30 Arms Act, registered on January 5 with Dakshintola police station."

He said that the CJM Court accepted the plea of the police to bring Mukhtar Ansari here from the Mohali jail on Warrant B on October 21. The Yogi Adityanath government has been cracking the whip on the economic empire and armory of the jailed don.

In Varanasi, SP City Vikas Chandra Tripathi said that the process of confiscating the property of Mukhtar's close aide Meraj Ansari was started on Friday by making a public announcement near his residence in the Ashok Vihar area.

Meraj Ansari is absconding after a case under section 419, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of the IPC was lodged against him for committing fraud to procure arms licences. He has been absconding since the case was lodged, added Tripathi. Meanwhile, large-scale action has been taken against Mukhtar's family members and henchmen in different districts of the state, including Lucknow.

Illegally acquired property by the don has been demolished and arms licenses procured by his men have been cancelled. As per the records of Mau police, in 2001 four persons -- Israel, Anwar, Salim and Mohd Shah Alam -- had managed to get arms licences on the recommendation of Mukhtar's letter by mentioning fake addresses on their application forms.

Alam was eliminated in an encounter with police in Ghazipur after a few years while others are absconding. Apart from them, former station officer Dakshintola police station J.K. Singh and a revenue official were also accused in this case by the police. These facts had come to light during the Ghosi Assembly bypoll process in October 2019, when arms licence verification was initiated across Mau district.

During the investigation, it came to light that apart from Israel, Anwar and Salim, Mohd Shah Alam had also applied for an arms license in 2001. To ensure that they all get licenses for double-barrel guns, Mukhtar wrote letters to the then District Magistrate on his letter pad in the capacity of Mau MLA in December 2001 requesting to issue arms licenses in their names.

The Mau Police have also registered a case against the owner of the Prakash Construction Company, Kiran Rai, at the Kotwali police station for utilizing fake documents to grab major contracts in order to provide financial benefits to the Mukhtar gang, said SP Mau. Mukhtar Ansari was shifted to the Ropar jail in Punjab in January 2019 and then to Mohali jail.