While Mukhtar Ansari may have become the face of organized crime in Uttar Pradesh, the Ansari family of Ghazipur has long been synonymous with political preeminence. His grandfather Dr. Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari was a notable freedom fighter who even presided over the Indian National Congress during the years 1926-27. Mukhtar's legacy also includes his maternal grandfather Brigadier Mohammed Usman who was awarded the Mahavir Chakra for his valor in the battle of 1947.
Mukhtar’s father Subhanullah Ansari retained a clean image in Ghazipur politics, and former Vice President of India Hamid Ansari is Mukhtar’s uncle. Mukhtar's journey is filled with contradictions; he was once a cricket enthusiast, but during his college years, he joined Sadhu Singh's gang and veered towards the underworld. His path into crime became one with no return.
The name Mukhtar once evoked fear across the province.
From a prestigious family background, how did Mukhtar Ansari become a formidable mafia lord? His story is captivating. Despite being seen in a wheelchair towards the end of his life, Mukhtar's influence, particularly in the Mau region and its surroundings, was uncontested until the arrival of Yogi's government in Uttar Pradesh. Today, Ansari's strongholds are being razed, but there was a time when the entire state trembled at the mention of his name.
In 1996, Mukhtar became an MLA for the first time.
Mukhtar had been a part of all major political parties in Uttar Pradesh except the BJP, which is why he was able to consistently secure a seat in the state’s legislative assembly for 24 years. He won his first assembly election as a BSP candidate in 1996 and continued to triumph in 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017's elections, the last three while he was jailed. The umbrella of politics not only protected Mukhtar but enabled him to emerge as a prominent figure in organized crime with deep and entangled roots.
Life took a turn for Mukhtar after 2002.
It was political rivalry that escalated Mukhtar Ansari's fame. The year 2002 was pivotal, permanently altering his destiny. It was in this year that BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai wrested the Ghazipur's Mohammadabad assembly seat, which had been in possession of the Ansari family since 1985. Mukhtar took this loss hard, and Rai did not live to complete his term as MLA, being assassinated in 2005.
Krishnanand Rai was showered with 500 bullets from AK-47s.
Returning from inaugurating an event, Krishnanand Rai's vehicle was ambushed, and trapped from all sides, approximately 500 rounds were fired from AK-47s, ending the lives of Rai and all seven occupants in the vehicle. Mukhtar Ansari's name surfaced as a suspect in this murder case, and eventually, the investigation was handed over from UP police to the CBI. The Supreme Court transferred the case from Ghazipur to Delhi in 2013 upon a petition by Rai's wife, Alka Rai. However, due to key witnesses retracting their statements, Mukhtar was acquitted.
The court remarked that the outcome could have been different if...
The special court in Delhi, while delivering a verdict in 2019, stated that if the witnesses had benefitted from the Witness Protection Scheme 2018 during the trial, the result might have been different. With the witnesses backing out, Mukhtar Ansari was released from jail. Nevertheless, his gang continued to operate actively, even while he was incarcerated.
Bad days began for Mukhtar with the Yogi government’s rise to power.
Since the Yogi government's rise, Mukhtar Ansari's era of impunity has come to an end. He has 52 cases against him in Uttar Pradesh alone. The state government has been working to bring Mukhtar to justice in at least 15 cases and has successfully demolished or seized properties worth over 192 crore INR owned by Ansari and his gang. Investigations continue to identify illegal and benami properties of the Mukhtar gang, and to date, 96 accused have been arrested with action under the Gangster Act against 75 of Mukhtar’s henchmen.
