1997 Death Threat: Varanasi Court Sentences Mukhtar Ansari to Five-and-a-half  Year’s Imprisonment

A Varanasi Court in Uttar Pradesh has sentenced gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to five-and-a-half year’s imprisonment for death threat to a coal trader in 1997. The MP-MLA court, presided over by Ujjawal Upadhyay, imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Ansari following his conviction for threatening Mahaveer Prasad Ranguta, as confirmed by the victim’s counsel, Vidhan Chandra Yadav.

Ansari allegedly made the threat in January 1997, indicating an intent to detonate Ranguta’s residence. The court concluded the hearings on December 5 but reserved its judgment until Friday when the bench, having found Ansari guilty, announced the sentence, Yadav added.

Attending the proceedings via video conferencing from Banda jail, where he has been incarcerated since 2021 after being transferred from a Punjab Jail, Ansari faces various charges in multiple cases. The Uttar Pradesh police headquarters reveals that Ansari has 65 cases, including murder, extortion, and criminal conspiracy, registered against him in various police stations across the state. He has been convicted in seven of these cases.

A five-time MLA from the Mau assembly constituency, Ansari did not contest the 2022 assembly elections, with his seat won by his son Abbas Ansari from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).

Simultaneously, the Uttar Pradesh government, assuring the Supreme Court on Friday, pledged to enhance Mukhtar Ansari’s security within Banda jail, if necessary, to prevent any harm to him. The bench, comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy and Sanjay Karol, heard a plea from Mukhtar Ansari’s son Umar Ansari, who sought a directive to transfer his father to a prison outside Uttar Pradesh.