Deceased gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari was named in over 60 police cases and convicted in eight, including for kidnapping, extortion, murder, etc. But the most sensational case of them all and one that is still fresh in the minds of many people, including senior Uttar Pradesh police officers, is the 2005 murder of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Krishnanand Rai.
Five-time Mau MLA Ansari, who was lodged in a jail in UP’s Banda, died of a cardiac arrest after being hospitalised on Thursday evening, officials said. His family members had claimed that he was being given a “poisonous substance” in jail. Rai’s son though celebrated Ansari’s death and called it “Baba Gorakhnath’s aashirwad and Allah’s justice in the ongoing month of Ramzan”.
Rai, the youngest among three brothers, was born to Lalita Rai and Jagannath Rai from Gondaur village of Ghazipur district. Krishnanand Rai served as MLA from 2002 to 2005 and represented the Mohammadabad assembly seat in Ghazipur. “And it was his electoral victory which became a bone of contention and the reason behind his untimely death,” said Rajesh Pandey, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.
Pandey said Rai’s win did not go down well with Mukhtar Ansari and his elder brother and Bahujan Samaj Party leader Afzal Ansari who decided to teach him a lesson.
“On November 29, 2005, Rai, who had been made aware of the death threats by Mukhtar Ansari and his gang members, was on his way home, when assailants, who were armed with automatic rifles, attacked his convoy near Basaniya Chatti, killing seven people including the legislator,” Pandey said.
Witnesses said there was a hail of bullets with over 500 rounds fired upon the convoy. “Rai suffered around 67 bullet injuries,” said Pandey.
The incident sent shockwaves through the region. Rai’s killing triggered widespread outrage and demands for justice. Senior BJP leaders including Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, and Kalyan Singh demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
A CBI probe was ordered in 2006. Finally, in 2023, Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment for the murder of Krishnanand Rai by an MP/MLA court.
“I have come to know that he (Ansari) has died in Banda jail. As the media is saying, he has died due to a heart attack. I believe this is the blessing of Baba Gorakhnath. Justice has been served. Somewhere I think it is Allah’s justice in the holy month of Ramzan that a dreaded criminal like Mukhtar Ansari has died,” Krishnanand Rai’s son Piyush Rai said.
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