UP's Ghazipur district administration on alert after death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari

Jailed Ansari died in a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday.

"Since this news flashed last night, the entire district administration is on alert. We are in touch with the family and they have said that the last rites will be done after morning prayers," Omvir Singh told reporters here.

The police officer warned that if anyone violated the Model Code of Conduct, which is in place for the upcoming general election, action would be taken against them.

"Crowd is expected as people will come to pay tribute and the arrangements are made for the same. But I appeal to the people that the Model Code of Conduct is in effect for general elections and if it is violated by any means or statements made by anyone, action will be taken as per law," he said.

Meanwhile, a three-member team will conduct a magisterial investigation into the death of Ansari.

The Chief Judicial Magistrate Banda issued orders concerning the judicial probe. Officials said a panel of two doctors will do the post-mortem, which will be videographed.

Mukhtar Ansari's body will be handed over to his son, Umar Ansari, following the post-mortem.

Umar Ansari told ANI that he has written a letter demanding that the postmortem be done by doctors at AIIMS, Delhi.

"It (post-mortem) is their procedure. I have written a letter saying that it should be done by doctors at AIIMS Delhi. We don't trust the medical system, government and administration here...You know why I am saying this. Panchnama is done. The district magistrate has to make a decision. Let's see what he decides. The postmortem has not begun," he said.

"We hope that the court will help investigate the suspicions that we are expressing. We will consult our legal team. We are confident that this is not a natural death but an orchestrated murder," he added.

According to the official release from the hospital, Ansari was brought to the hospital around 8:25 pm on Thursday. A team of nine doctors attended to him before he died, the release added.

Sibgatullah Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari's elder brother, claimed on Friday that the administration did not inform him and he learned about his brother's death through the media.

Speaking to ANI, Sibgatullah said, "I saw it in the media and came to know about it. The administration didn't inform me. He had been very unwell since March 18 and he was not being given any treatment despite raising an alarm again and again. On March 25-26, his health was in a very bad condition, so he was brought to medical college for a few hours as a formality. He was sent back and it was said that he was stable. He was not given any treatment."

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. (ANI)