Mulayam govt wanted to save him: Ex-DSP, who slapped POTA on Mukhtar Ansari

Former Deputy Superintendents of Police Shailendra Singh alleged on Friday that the Mulayam Singh government had wanted to protect the gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Asnari, who died at a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.

He also claimed that top-ranking police officials were "pressurised," and he was even made to resign within fifteen days when the Samajwadi Party was in power in the state.

"20 years ago, in 2004, Mukhtar Ansari's empire was at its peak. He would move around in open jeeps in areas where curfew was imposed. That time I recovered a light machine gun, no recovery was made before or after that. I even imposed (Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) on him," Singh told ANI.

"But the Mulayam government wanted to save him at any cost. He pressurised officials, IG-Range, DIG, and SP-STF were transferred, even I was made to resign within 15 days. But in my resignation, I wrote my reasons and put it before the people that this is the government you chose, which is protecting and working on the orders of mafias. I wasn't doing a favour to anyone. It was my duty," he added.

Ansari, a former MLA who had been booked in more than 60 cases, died Thursday night after he was rushed to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from the district jail, where he was lodged.

Ansari's family has alleged that he died due to "slow poisoning" in the jail.

However, the post-mortem has confirmed that he died of cardiac arrest.

Ansari was elected as an MLA from the Mau assembly seat five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate.

He had a strong influence in Ghazipur, his hometown.

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.