Mukhtar Ansari case: An Uttar Pradesh court on Thursday sentenced 10 years in prison to gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is lodged in jail under the Gangster Act. According to reports, the latest conviction pertains to several cased including a 1996 case lodged in Ghaziput over an attack on the Additional Superintendent of police (ASP).
Ansari is currently lodged in jail in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district in connection with criminal cases against him. According to reports, the Ghazipur court handed 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh to the gangster-turned-politician.
He is under trial for a number of crimes, including an attempt to murder and murder. He has at least 59 criminal cases registered against him, including ones on grounds of land grabbing, murder, and extortion.
At least 20 cases are still pending against Ansari
According to police, the Ghazipur district administration has seized two plots of land, valued at over Rs 6 crore, that were purchased using the alleged illegal earnings of Ansari.
The court has pronounced verdicts in three cases so far and at least 20 cases are still pending against Ansari. So far, a total of 126 gangsters have been prosecuted under the Gangster Act and action has been taken against Ansari and 282 of his associates. Besides, assets worth more than 289 crores have also been seized under the Gangster Act.
ED arrests Ansari in money laundering case
Earlier on Wednesday, December 14, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested jailed Ansari in a money laundering case after he was produced before a local court in Uttar Pradesh.
He was taken into custody by the ED under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after he was produced before a court in Prayagraj on the basis of a production warrant moved by the agency, according to official sources.
His MLA son Abbas Ansari was also arrested by the federal probe agency in November after questioning at its sub-zonal office in Prayagraj. This was followed by the arrest of Mukhtar Ansari's brother-in-law Atif Raza.
