An FIR has been lodged against gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a 2001 murder of a 28-year-old youth in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur district. Ansari, a former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, is lodged in a jail in Banda since October 2005. This is the sixth murder case in which he has been booked while being lodged in jail. Ghazipur Superintendent of Police (SP) Omvir Singh said the FIR against Ansari and his four associates was lodged on the basis of an inquiry conducted by a DSP-rank officer after a complaint was received. The case has been filed by deceased Manoj Rai’s father Shailendra Kumar Rai, a resident of Buxar in Bihar. The other accused named in the FIR are Surendra Sharma, Shahid, Gaus Moinudeen and Kamaal. No one has been arrested in the case. Manoj Rai’s in-law family lives in Ghazipur. The police said Shailendra Rai has alleged that Mukhtar Ansari and his associates killed his son on July 14, 2001, for allegedly betraying him. He claimed that his son was falsely shown as having died in the Usarichatti case in which Ansari accused his arch-rival Brijesh Singh of attacking him in Mohammadabad area of the district in 2001. According to the prosecution, unidentified assailants had allegedly attacked Ansari's convoy at Usarichatti on July 15, 2001. In the attack, three persons including Mukhtar’s security guard and an associate, were killed. The police had lodged an FIR in the matter and later filed a chargesheet against three persons — Brijesh Singh, Tribhuvan Singh and Anil Singh (now dead). Government counsel (Ghazipur) Neeraj Srivastava said in the investigation conducted earlier Manoj Rai was shown as one of the assailants, who attacked Mukhtar and his associates. According to the police, Shailendra Rai stated in his complaint that his son had told him that he worked with Ansari. He also quoted Manoj having told him that Ansari was upset with him since he had filed some tenders without taking him into confidence. Manoj feared Mukhtar Ansari could eliminate him, he added in the complaint. The complainant claimed that he remained quiet for long as feared Mukhtar. He now came to lodge an FIR after coming to know that the state government is taking action against Mukhtar and his associates, police said. Ansari represented Mau Sadar five times — twice as a BSP candidate and thrice as Independent.
