Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari sentenced to life imprisonment in 36-year-old fake gun licence case

Uttar Pradesh news: A special MP-MLA court on March 13 sentenced gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari to life imprisonment in a three-decade-old fake arms licence case. On March 12, the court had convicted Mukhtar Ansari and fixed March 13 for pronouncing the quantum of punishment in the case.

According to the district government counsel Vinay Singh, Mukhtar Ansari joined the court proceedings via video conference from Banda jail, where he is currently lodged.

The order was passed by the special MP-MLA court of judge Awanish Gautam, Vinay Singh said.

The case against Mukhtar Ansari was registered under IPC sections 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with provisions of the Arms Act at Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur in December 1990, news agency PTI reported, quoting Vinay Singh.

According to the police, around 60 cases are pending against Ansari in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, New Delhi and other states.

He has so far been convicted in at least seven cases.

Mukhtar Ansari: Fake guns licence case

According to a Hindustan Times report, on June 10, 1987, Mukhtar Ansari had applied for a gun licence with the district magistrate for a double-barrel gun. Later it was found that Ansari had received the licence with fake signatures of the district magistrate and the superintendent of police.

The report further stated that on December 4, 1990, when the fraud in securing the gun licence was exposed, the CB-CID lodged a complaint with the police, and based on the complaint, a case under various sections of IPC against five persons, including Mukhtar Ansari, was registered at the Mohammadabad police station.

The charge sheet was sent to the court in 1997 against the then ordnance clerk Gaurishankar Srivastava and Mukhtar Ansari. Gaurishankar Srivastava died during the hearing of the case. The prosecution recorded the statements of 10 witnesses.

Who is Mukhtar Ansari?

Mukhtar Ansari, a relative of former Vice-President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari, is a gangster-turned-politician. Mukhtar Ansari is a convicted criminal who was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Mau constituency five times. 

Notably, he won the Mau constituency seat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly on a Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party ticket.