Gangster-Politician Mukhtar Ansari Gets Life Sentence in 32-Yr-Old Murder Case

Varanasi: A court in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on Monday convicted Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari in a 32-year-old murder case and sentenced him to life imprisonment. He was also fined Rs 1,00,000. This is Ansari’s sixth conviction in the 61 criminal cases against him. Another 20 cases are pending against him in different courts in Uttar Pradesh.

In this recent case, Ansari was charged with the murder of a Congress leader in 1991. 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 won assembly elections five times in 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. The contested and won last three elections while in jail. Mukhtar Ansari allegedly killed BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai with an AK-47 rifle in November 2005. At least 400 bullet shells were reportedly recovered from the spot of crime. As many as 21 bullets were recovered from Rai’s body.