Dead body of Mukhtar Ansari brought to Ghazipur for last rites

Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 30 (ANI): The dead body of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest, was brought to his Ghazipur residence for last rites amid heavy police deployment by the district administration.

The last rites will be performed on Saturday, said Mukhtar Ansari’s elder brother, Sibgatullah Ansari.

“We received the body after some delay so the last rites cannot be performed tonight. It will be done tomorrow morning. I request everybody to pray for him,” Sibgatullah Ansari told ANI on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the body of Mukhtar Ansari was taken from Banda to Ghazipur after the completion of the post-mortem at Banda Medical College and Hospital.

Ansari died in a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday. His family, however, has

Meanwhile, a three-member team will conduct a magisterial investigation into the death of Ansari.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Banda issued orders concerning the judicial probe. Officials said a panel of two doctors will do the post-mortem, which will be videographed.

Umar Ansari, the son of Mukhtar Ansari, told ANI that he had written a letter demanding that the postmortem be done by doctors at AIIMS, Delhi.

“It (post-mortem) is their procedure. I have written a letter saying that it should be done by doctors at AIIMS Delhi. We don’t trust the medical system, government and administration here…You know why I am saying this…Panchnama is done. District Magistrate has to make a decision. Let’s see what he decides. The postmortem has not begun…,” he said.

“We hope that the court will help investigate the suspicions that we are expressing. We will consult our legal team. We are confident that this is not a natural death but an orchestrated murder,” he added.

According to the official release from the hospital, Ansari was brought to the hospital around 8:25 pm on Thursday. A team of nine doctors attended to him before he died, the release added.

Sibgatullah Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari’s elder brother, claimed on Friday that the administration did not inform him and he learned about his brother’s death through the media.

Earlier, Umar Ansari had claimed that his father was “given poison in the food” and said “they would move the judiciary”.

In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP-MLA court. He was sentenced to life in prison on March 13, 2024, in a case related to the use of forged documents for obtaining an arms licence in 1990. (ANI)