Mukhtar Ansari pleads for TV in jail

Jailed BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari, arrested for his alleged complicity in a slew of criminal cases, on Monday pleaded to a Barabanki court to provide for television in his prison barrack.

Barabanki:Jailed BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari, arrested for his alleged complicity in a slew of criminal cases, on Monday pleaded to a Barabanki court to provide for television in his prison barrack. Ansari made the plea during his appearance before Barabanki Chief Judicial Magistrate Rakesh through video conference for the extension of his judicial custody in a forgery case.

The forgery case related to the registration of a bulletproof ambulance that Ansari allegedly used for moving between the Ropar jail in Punjab and various court in the state. Ansari's counsel Randheer Singh Suman said his client told the court the government has made provisions for television in jail barracks across the state to facilitate prison inmates see news and entertainment programmes.

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But the Uttar Pradesh government is giving step-motherly treatment to Ansari, depriving him of a basic civic amenity in the jail, his counsel alleged. The court, meanwhile, extended Ansari's judicial custody till July 5 in the case of the fraudulent registration of the ambulance.

Ansari also pleaded to the court to direct the Banda jail to provide for his physiotherapy every day in the prison to keep at bay his orthopaedic problems. He said despite his repeated requests, the Banda Jail Authority has deprived him of this essential medical aide. After having been brought from the Ropar jail in Punjab, Ansari was lodged in UP's Banda jail as an undertrial in a slew of criminal cases.

(PTI)