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Journalism of Courage
A gangster-turned-politician from Uttar Pradesh, Mukhtar Ansari is hitting the headlines in Punjab with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in state raking up the issue of his “5-star stay” in a Ropar jail. The AAP government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is now looking to put in the dock those leaders of the previous government who were responsible for Ansari’s transit remand to Punjab and his subsequent stay in jail.
The Indian Express explains who is Mukhtar Ansari and why he has suddenly become emerged on the Punjab’s political scene.
A gangster-turned-politician, Mukhtar Ansari has been a five-time MLA from the Mau constituency in Uttar Pradesh. The politician traces his lineage to an illustrious family with one of his relatives being Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the former Vice-President of India.
His paternal grandfather, Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, was a freedom fighter and remained the president of Indian National Congress. One of the founders of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, he remained its Chancellor from 1928 till his death in 1936. Mukhtar Ansari’s maternal grandfather, Mohammad Usman, was a Brigadier who was killed in action during Indo-Pak war in 1948 and was posthumously awarded Mahaveer Chakra.
Meanwhile, almost 60 cases of land grab, murder and extortion are registered against Mukhtar Ansari. He has been in jail for over 15 years.
Ansari was in Ropar jail for over two years from January 2019 to April 2021 during previous Congress government. He was brought to Punjab on January 22, 2019, on a transit remand after an extortion call was made to a Mohali-based builder. A case under Sections 386 and 506 IPC for extortion and criminal conspiracy was registered against him.
Kuldeep Singh Chahal was the SSP of Mohali then. The extortion call in which Rs 10 crore was demanded from the builder was traced to Banda jail in UP. Mukhtar Ansari was kept in police custody for two days and later sent to Ropar jail on judicial remand. After that he stayed in Ropar jail for over two years. When he was transited to Punjab, the state had Congress government led by Capt Amarinder Singh, who has since then shifted base to the BJP.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann Thursday stated that warrants were issued for Mukhtar Ansari’s production 48 times during his two-year stay in Ropar jail, but his custody was not handed to UP Police by the Punjab Police. The UP government had then moved the Supreme Court stating that Punjab was “shamelessly” retaining Ansari. It was on the top court’s orders that Ansari was sent back to UP in April 2021.
The inquiry was ordered by former jails minister Harjot Bains after the Aam Aadmi Party government took over. The inquiry was handed over to ADGP RN Dhoke. In his report, Dhoke stated that Mukhtar Ansari was given five-star treatment and some jails officials are hand in glove with him by taking bribes. His family was staying outside the jail for easy access and two of his aides were also in jail after they were booked in some cases. Mukhtar Ansari did not apply for bail even after staying in Ropar jail for over two years.
The police did not produce the chargesheet in court. The inquiry has also stated that he was patronised by some top politicians.
The issue came alive after Mann said that the government would not pay Rs 55 lakh in legal fees to senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, who represented the Punjab government in Supreme Court. He said the fee would not be paid by using taxpayers’ money. Mann said he is thinking of getting the money recovered from the “former ministers” who had decided to keep Mukhtar Ansari in Punjab jail.
