Police vigil, security net at Mukhtar’s burial
Mukhtar Ansari died Thursday night after he suffered a cardiac arrest in Banda prison. Ansari’s family, however, sought an autopsy by a panel of doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi.
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Mukhtar Ansari’s funeral at Mohammadabad in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. (Image source: PTI) TWO DAYS after he died of a cardiac arrest in Banda, jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari was buried at a graveyard in his hometown Mohammadabad in Ghazipur district of Uttar Pradesh on Friday.
The burial took place in the presence of a huge gathering of people who came to pay their last respects to the five-time MLA from Mau. Heavy police deployment was made to maintain law and order. Policemen equipped with riot-control gear were also kept on standby.
Mukhtar’s body, which was brought to his residence in an ambulance in the early hours on Saturday, was taken to the nearby graveyard around 10 am by family members, including his son Umar, brother and Ghazipur MP Afzal and nephew Suhaib among others.
Mukhtar’s elder son Abbas, who is lodged in Kasganj jail, could not attend his funeral. He had moved an application on Friday in the Allahabad High Court seeking permission to attend his father’s funeral, but the application could not be taken up by the court.
At the graveyard, there were some stray incidents of slogan shouting and police resorting to use of light force to control the crowd, which had started gathering since the morning.
There was a heated exchange between Afzal and Ghazipur District Magistrate Aryaka Akhoury after the latter asked the MP to restrict the number of people visiting Mukhtar’s grave. Akhoury told Afzal that the number of people will be restricted as prohibitory orders under Section 144 were in place. Afzal countered this, saying it is a religious right of the family and the visitors to offer soil to Mukhtar’s grave.
Later, Afzal appealed to the crowd, asking them to return later to pay their last respects to Mukhtar’s grave. A large chunk of the crowd returned. Till evening, smaller groups of people kept coming to the graveyard to pay their respects.
After the situation was controlled, Ghazipur SP Omveer Singh said, “Those who created a ruckus here will be identified. We have video recorded the funeral procession. They will face action.”
Mukhtar died Thursday night after he suffered a cardiac arrest in Banda prison. The post-mortem report conducted by doctors of Banda Medical College cited the cause of death to be “heart attack/myocardial infarction”, officials said. Mukhtar’s family, however, sought an autopsy by a panel of doctors from AIIMS, New Delhi.
Mukhtar’s younger son Umar had on Friday claimed that his father was a victim of an “orchestrated plan”. He said that on March 21 both the Barabanki and Banda courts were apprised through lawyers that his father was being administered slow poison in food. He alleged a similar poisoning incident had occurred 40 days ago, which significantly affected Mukhtar’s health.
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