An MP/MLA court in Varanasi, on Monday, June 5 found former Mau MLA and dreaded mafia Mukhtar Ansari guilty and convicted the jailed mafia in the 30 years old Awadhesh Rai murder case. The quantum of the sentence will be announced at 2 pm today. The gangster-turned-politician is the prime accused in the case.
Gangster-turned-politician #MukhtarAnsari has been convicted by a #Varanasi court in #UttarPradesh in connection with the 1991 Awadhesh Rai murder case. #MPMLACourt
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) June 5, 2023
(File Photo) pic.twitter.com/MZTdwgoXhy
Speaking about the court’s decision, Awadhesh Rai’s brother Ajay Rai told the media, “We have faith in the judicial system. We hope he (Mukhtar Ansari) gets the maximum possible punishment. Mafia Mukhtar Ansari tried to tamper with the evidence several times.”
#WATCH | We have faith in the judicial system. We hope he (Mafia Mukhtar Ansari) gets the maximum possible punishment. Mafia Mukhtar Ansari tried to tamper with the evidence several times: Ajay Rai, Congress leader and brother of Awadhesh Rai pic.twitter.com/kuYXvNfRiF
— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2023
Ajay Rai’s lawyer, meanwhile, told the media, “It was a brutal murder in broad daylight and there were two eyewitnesses who gave their statements without being afraid of Mukhtar Ansari.”
VIDEO | "It was a brutal murder in broad daylight and there were two eyewitnesses who gave their statements without being afraid of Mukhtar Ansari," says the lawyer who represented Ajay Rai in the MP/MLA court in Varanasi. pic.twitter.com/2G5kmY4Nyu
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 5, 2023
The case dates back to the year 1991. Awadhesh Rai was a Congress leader and brother of former MLA Ajay Rai. On August 3, 1991, Awadhesh Rai was shot dead outside his brother Ajay Rai’s house in Varanasi. It is believed that the Congress leader was shot as he had started to gain political prominence.
According to reports, at the time of the murder, Congress leader Ajay Rai along with his brother Awadhesh Rai was standing in front of his house in the Lahurabir area in Varanasi, when some miscreants arrived in the van and started firing at them. The miscreants had reportedly made Awadhesh Rai their target. They shot Awadhesh Rai till he died.
Following his brother’s murder, Ajay Singh filed an FIR at Chetganj police station of Varanasi in which he named mafia Mukhtar Ansari. MLAs Abdul Kalam, Bhim Singh, Kamlesh Singh and Rakesh Srivastava alias Rakesh Justice were also named as accused in the case.
At present, Mukhtar Ansari and Bhim Singh are lodged in jail. Whereas former MLAs Abdul Kalam and Kamlesh Singh have died.
It is believed that Mukhtar Ansari while lamenting in jail, used his clout and influence to get the original case diary to disappear from the court. In fact, the Varanasi police had also registered an FIR against Mukhtar Ansari for the same.
It may be recalled that in December last year, Mukhtar Ansari was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a court in Ghazipur. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on him. Mukhtar Ansari and Bhim Singh were convicted under the Gangster Act.
The court pronounced its verdict in the 1996 gangster case against MLA Mukhtar Ansari.
In 1996, this Gangster Act case was registered against Mukhtar Ansari. The action was taken against Mukhtar on the basis of five cases under the Gangster Act. Congress leader Ajay Rai’s elder brother Awadhesh Rai’s murder case and the fatal attack on additional SP were also included in these five cases.
In this case, the court had sentenced after 26 years. This was the first time Mukhtar Ansari had been convicted in any case. The gangster act was invoked simultaneously in connection with the murder of Awadhesh Rai, the murder of Constable Rajendra Singh, the murder of Constable Raghuvansh Singh, the attack on an additional SP, and the attack on policemen in Ghazipur.
Notably, in Ansari’s 44-year of criminal history, he has so far been exonerated in 18 cases. He was once accused of breaking the NSA Act, but the DM exonerated him in that case too. After that, he was cleared by the police in 8 other cases.
In addition to all this, records of four cases filed against him went missing from the police station. Three cases filed against him were withdrawn. 21 cases are still pending in court, out of which, the court hasn’t even accepted the charge sheet in 2 cases.
