Mukhtar Ansari to be brought to UP from Punjab under tight security, says ADG Prashant Kumar

Mafia don Mukhtar Ansari will be brought to Uttar Pradesh from Punjab under tight security, said Prashant Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (ADG) Law and Order, Uttar Pradesh Police, days after the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of the BSP MLA from Ropar jail in Punjab to UP's Banda jail within two weeks.

"Mukhtar Ansari is currently lodged in Punjab jail. The Uttar Pradesh government approached the Supreme Court which ordered the transfer of Ansari from Punjab to Uttar Pradesh. In line with Supreme Court's order, Ansari will be brought to Uttar Pradesh in tight security and will be lodged in jail (in Uttar Pradesh). Ansari is a history-sheeter of Ghazipur's Mohmadabad police station," Kumar told .

The ADG informed that around 52 cases are registered against Ansari in Uttar Pradesh and other states.

"Recently in Barabanki, he has been named in a case. Mukhtar Ansari committed heinous crimes in Purvanchal in the past including killing of police personnel," he said.

Kumar further added that the worth of his properties along with that of his aides that have been seized or demolished is Rs 192,06,22,000.

He said 96 persons from Ansari's gang have been arrested. "75 out of 96 persons, action has been taken under the Goonda Act," the ADG added.

On March 26, the Supreme Court orders the transfer of Mukhtar Ansari to jail in Uttar Pradesh from Punjab within two weeks, to face trials there.

Earlier in February, The UP government accused the Punjab government in the Supreme Court, alleging that the latter(Punjab) was colluding with BSP leader Mukhtar Ansari who is wanted in UP in relation to various criminal cases

On March 26, the Supreme Court ordered the transfer of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to jail in Uttar Pradesh from Punjab within two weeks, to face trials there.

The top court also dismissed the plea of Ansari seeking transfer of cases pending against him in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

The order of the apex court came on a plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government seeking transfer of custody of Mukhtar Ansari, from Punjab to UP to face trial in as many as 14 cases pending over there and also on Ansari's plea seeking transfer of cases pending against him in UP to Delhi.

After the UP government moved the court, Ansari had approached the top court alleging there is a threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh as one of the co-accused was "eliminated in an encounter" by the Uttar Pradesh Police.

Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh government had argued that Ansari is being "vociferously defended by the state of Punjab" and that he is enjoying in the Punjab jail.

Ansari, MLA from Mau, has been lodged in a Ropar jail in Punjab since January 2019 where he was named in an extortion case.

Earlier, several production warrants were issued against Ansari but Punjab Police did not allow him to be shifted to Uttar Pradesh on the grounds of ill health.

On his part, Ansari has apprehended a threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh and sought to appear in cases through video conferencing only.

( With inputs from ANI )