The saga of Mukhtar Ansari's bulletproof ambulance

Uttar Pradesh's mafia don turned politician Mukhtar Ansari’s bulletproof ambulance is unique in its own way. It is said that no bullet or bomb can do any damage to his ambulance which he got modified illegally.

Lucknow:Uttar Pradesh'smafia don turned politician Mukhtar Ansari’s bulletproof ambulance is unique in more ways than one. The bullets of AK-47 and SLR cannot pierce into this ambulance.

Even a bomb cannot do any damage to his ambulance. Ansari did not only get this unique bulletproof ambulance modified illegally but many other vehicles as well.

There used to be three to four bulletproof vehicles in his convoy and the registration number of these vehicles is 0786.

These revelations have been made by retired Director General of Police (DGP) AK Jain.

Jain has said that bulletproof ambulances are not available even for the country’s Prime Minister; state Chief Minister and the DGP.

The security agencies have even alerted the government many times in this regard.

According to Jain, Ansari, who is lodged in Ropar Jail in Punjab, is using UP’s registration number to go to the court on dates. This is not possible without the involvement of the Punjab government and the Jail Department.

It should be investigated thoroughly. It is worth noting that to make a vehicle bulletproof, permission has to be obtained from the government. The business of making high-tech bulletproof vehicles is also high in Punjab and Jalandhar.

Earlier also, intelligence agencies had reported the movement of bulletproof vehicles in Mukhtar's convoy. Investigations were also conducted but no action was taken by the erstwhile governments.

This boosted the morale of these criminals and many of their operatives also started moving in bulletproof vehicles, Jain said.

AMBULANCE WAS MADE IN A FACTORY IN JALANDHAR

If a person, who was a member of the Mukhtar gang, is to be believed, bulletproof vehicles forming the convoy of Mukhtar have been built in a factory in Jalandhar.

The permission of running these vehicles has not been taken from the government.

A person from Punjab, associated with this business, said that anyone can get bulletproof vehicles ready in Jalandhar.

For this, the car should be in the name of the person concerned. The person who has a car only has to decide what kind of bulletproofing is required.

After this, the details of the said vehicle are given to the security agencies so that the said vehicle cannot be used against the security of the country.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF VEHICLES ARE MADE FOR SAFETY

How a vehicle is to be bulletproofed has to be decided by the person who owns the vehicle.

He has to tell the mechanic the kind of materials he would like to be used for his vehicle.

Accordingly, the materials are used for protection from the bullets of pistol bullets, AK 47 SLR and other types of explosive.

RECORD MISSING FROM RTO OFFICE

The file containing the ambulance – UP 41 AT 7171 -- papers is missing from the office of Barabanki RTO.

Till date, the fitness of the vehicle has never been done. Where was the ambulance parked for five years despite having no fitness validity and the termination of insurance?

Information about this is not available with the Department of Transport and Health.

The ambulance from Uttar Pradesh reached Punjab but it was never challaned anywhere.

After all these revelations surfaced, the Barabanki Police have started investigating the entire case of a special history-sheeter and resident of Barabanki -- Mukhtar Ansari. Police say that if Mukhtar has registered an ambulance from Barabanki, then key aides of Mukhtar are involved in it. His name has also come up in the murder of a jailer in Barabanki.

MUKHTAR’S HENCHMEN ALSO MOVE IN BULLETPROOF VEHICLES

After killing Munna Bajrangi in Baghpat jail two years ago, about two dozen goons associated with Mukhtar Ansari, got their vehicles bulletproofed.

Scorpio and Fortuner vehicles were bulletproofed from Meerut and Punjab in a very stealthy manner.

Interestingly, most of the operatives have bought vehicles in the name of close ones.

These revelations surfaced after the bulletproof vehicle of Surendra Kalia of Lucknow was attacked and one such vehicle was recovered from Pradeep Singh, who was close to Mukhtar.

However, no documents of these bulletproof vehicles were found.

ILLEGAL TO MODIFY A VEHICLE UNDER THE MOTOR VEHICLE ACT

According to the RTO officers, under the Motor Vehicle’s Act, the shape of the vehicle cannot be changed.

There is no separate guideline regarding the bulletproof vehicle. But if there is a change in the appearance of the car, then action is taken.

The registration department of the same state has the right to cancel the registration of the vehicle when it is registered in another state.

Action can even be taken including the suspension of the registration of vehicles.

BULLET PROOFING COSTS UP TO RS 15-40 LAKH

In the year 2003, through a company in Varanasi, many mafias got their vehicles bulletproofed.

The office of this company was open only for a few days in Varanasi. From the city, the agent used to work with the only company making bulletproof vehicles in Meerut.

The cost of bulletproof vehicles is Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh. At the same time, the big mafia chose Punjab to prepare high-tech full bulletproof vehicles. SLR and AK-47 bullets also cannot do any harm to these vehicles and it costs around Rs 40 lakh.