Lucknow: Twelve buildings owned by jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his elder brother Afzal Ansari, have been declared "illegal" and are set to be demolished by the Uttar Pradesh government in Lucknow's Dalibagh. The Ghazipur administration has taken over the land while Lucknow Development Authority has issued a notice in this regard.
Afzal, Bahujan Samajhwadi Party MP was disqualified from Lok Sabha after he was convicted in a kidnapping and murder case. He has been ordered four-year sentence by a court.
A huge building at the corner of the road, owned by Afzal Ansari's wife can be demolished at any moment, said officials. Earlier, there were two illegal constructions in the name of Mukhtar's mother which have already been bulldozed. Similar action will be taken against all the remaining illegal buildings of Mukhtar and Afzal. Also, illegal buildings of slain Atiq Ahmed are under the scanner of the UP government and necessary action will be taken after the elections.
Lucknow Development Authority vice president Dr. Indramani Tripathi said that the land in Dalibagh where these illegal constructions have been set up are unclaimed properties. "This land originally belonged to the people who migrated to Pakistan during partition. After they left, the land was illegally occupied. Later on, gangsters like Mukhtar occupied these plots. Buildings constructed on these plots are considered illegal. As of now, only one illegal construction has been demolished. All the remaining illegal constructions are under the scanner", Tripathi said.
Uttar Pradesh spokesperson of Bharatiya Janata Party, Rakesh Tripathi said the gangsters are being razed to the ground by the UP government. "Action is being taken against the gangsters within the jurisdiction of the law. They received a lot of support during the regime of the Samajhwadi Party. But, that is past now. All the criminals will be acted upon," the BJP leader said.
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Senior journalist and political analyst Vijay Upadhyay said gangsters build their empires through illegal constructions and the Yogi Adityanath government is weakening them by demolishing their empires, he said.
