Mukhtar Ansari: This is Ansari's sixth conviction in the 61 criminal cases against him. (file)
Jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari was today convicted by a court in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi in a 32-year-old murder case and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also fined Rs 1,00,000. This is Ansari's sixth conviction in the 61 criminal cases against him. 20 other cases against him are pending trail in various parts of the state.
Ansari has been charged with the murder of a Congress leader in 1991, when he was starting to gain political prominence. On August 3, 1991, Congress leader and brother of former MLA Ajay Rai, Awadhesh Rai, was shot dead outside Ajay Rai's house in Varanasi. Mukhtar Ansari was not an MLA when he committed the crime. Security was tightened at the court complex ahead of the verdict. Mr Rai had named Mukhtar Ansari, Bhim Singh, former MLA Abdul Kalim, and two others, in the FIR. Ajay Rai is now a regional chief of Congress's Uttar Pradesh unit.
Ajay Rai welcomed the judgement and said, "This is the end of our 32-year struggle against a notorious criminal. I, my parents, Awadhesh's daughter and the whole family kept patience... Governments came and went, and Mukhtar strengthened himself."
"But we did not give up. Because of our lawyers' efforts, today the court has found Mukhtar guilty in the murder case of my brother," Mr Rai added.
He asserted that those who stand up to gangsters and fight will get justice.
"We received threats. I have been demanding security, and it should be enhanced. If something happens to me, the BJP government will be responsible," Mr Rai said.
A five-term MLA, Mukhtar Ansari was handed a 10-year jail term in another kidnapping and murder case this April. Several criminal cases -- of land grabbing, murder and extortion -- are registered against him.
The Varanasi MP MLA court concluded the hearing in the Awadhesh Rai case after final arguments on May 19, reserved its order, and fixed June 5 as the date to deliver it.
Mukhtar Ansari won assembly elections five times - 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. The last three victories came while he was in jail.
His son Abbas Ansari won the Uttar Pradesh assembly election from his stronghold Mau Sadar in 2022 from the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP).
Mukhtar Ansari was also accused in what is perhaps the most sensational political murder in Uttar Pradesh's history. He allegedly killed BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai with an AK-47 rifle in November 2005. 400 bullet shells were reportedly recovered from the spot. As many as 21 bullets were recovered from Rai's body.