Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh): Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's brother Afzal Ansari, an MP from Ghazipur, is set to lose his membership after being sentenced to four years under the Gangster Act. According to sources, he will not be able to contest elections for six years and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will issue an order in this regard.
Senior advocate Prashant Singh Atal said that the laws under which Rahul Gandhi was disqualified as an MP will be applicable to Afzal Ansari, too. Ansari will not only lose his membership, but will be disqualified to contest elections for six years until a decision comes in his favour from another higher court and the sentence is not cancelled.
Mukhtar Ansari was convicted by Ghazipur's MP MLA Court in a kidnapping and murder case on Saturday. The court also sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakhs. This comes a month after Atiq Ahmed, another dreaded gangster was convicted by the Prayagraj court last month and sentenced to life.
Ahead of the verdict by the MP MLA court security was beefed up in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur. Mukhtar's elder brother and BSP MP Afzal Ansari was also charged in the case. Earlier in January, the Uttar Pradesh police registered a murder case against Mukhtar Ansari in connection with the 2001 'Usri Chatti' gang war incident.
In 2018, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the March 15 order of the Ghazipur MP/MLA Court, which allowed Ansari to be kept in a superior-class jail in Banda. The court had said that the order of the special court is without jurisdiction, and the 'Bahubali' is not legally entitled to get a superior class in jail.
Meanwhile, an arrest warrant has been issued against Mukhtar Ansari's son Umar Ansari. This has been confirmed by Circle Officer City Dhananjay Mishra. The warrant has been issued by the Chief Judicial Magistrate against Umar Ansari in the case of hate speech. Umar is presently absconding in the case. Along with Umar Ansari, Abbas Ansari is also an accused in this case.
Also read: Allahabad HC says Mukhtar Ansari gang most dreaded gang of India, denies bail to member
On December 15 last year, Ansari and his aide Bhim Singh were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the court in Ghazipur in five cases related to murder and attempt to murder. The cases include the murder of constable Raghuvansh Singh and an assault on an additional SP of Ghazipur among others.
On September 21, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court convicted Mukhtar Ansari and sentenced him for threatening jailer SK Awasthi and pointing a pistol at him. The case dates back to 2003 when Lucknow district prison jailer SK Awasthi registered an FIR saying that he was threatened to order a search of the people, who came to meet Ansari in prison. On September 23, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court sentenced him to five years in a case registered in 1999 under the Gangster Act. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on Mukhtar in this 23-year-old case. (With agency inputs)
