Gangster-Politician Mukhtar Ansari Sentenced To 10 Years In Murder Case

Uttar Pradesh gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been sentenced to 10 years by a local court in a murder case. The former MLA was convicted by the same court yesterday.

Though he was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on September 25, he remained in jail as he faces charges in many other cases.

The 10-year sentence came on the murder case of police officer Kapildev Singh in 2009. The same year, Mukhtar Ansari was accused of trying to murder another policeman, Mir Hasan

In June, a court in Varanasi had awarded life sentence to Mukhtar Ansari in a murder case.

The Enforcement Directorate on October 15 attached lands, a building and bank deposits worth more than Rs 73.43 lakh as part of the money laundering investigation against Mukhtar Ansari.

A five-time MLA, Mukhtar Ansari has also been charged with the murder of a Congress leader in 1991, when he was starting to gain political prominence. In August 1991, Congress leader and brother of former MLA Ajay Rai, Awadhesh Rai, was shot dead outside Ajay Rai's house,

Mukhtar Ansari was not an MLA at that time. Mr Rai had named the gangster-politician and four others as accused in the case.

Over 15 cases against Mukhtar Ansari are pending trial across the country; he faces at least 61 criminal cases.

The police investigated the murder case thoroughly. They made a chart showing the connections between gang leaders and the former MLA before moving in to arrest him.