HC grants bail to former superintendent of Chitrakoot jail

He was arrested and jailed for allegedly facilitating the illegal meeting between Mau MLA Abbas Ansari (son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari) and his wife Nikhat Bano

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has granted bail to former superintendent of Chitrakoot district jail, who was arrested for allegedly facilitating the illegal meeting between Mau MLA Abbas Ansari (son of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari) and his wife Nikhat Bano.

During investigation, it was discovered that Nikhat used to meet Abbas inside the jail for three to four hours every second or third day. Her visits were facilitated by local jail authorities, and not logged in the jail register.

A single-judge bench of Justice Subhash Vidyarthi approved the bail plea of Ashok Kumar Sagar on August 29. He was in prison since March 6 this year.

Appearing on behalf of the applicant, advocate Amit Chaudhary argued before the court that all charges levelled against the jail superintendent were fabricated and he was wrongly implicated in the case.

“Deputy jailor Chandrakala was in-charge of facilitating the meeting of prison inmates and visitors,” said Chaudhary. “Jailor Santosh Kumar was in-charge of the barrack in which Abbas Ansari was lodged,” he added.

“However, deputy jailor Piyush Pandey was in charge as Santosh Kumar was on leave from February 8, 2023. Pandey was made a witness in the case,” Chaudhary pointed out.

Nikhat was arrested on February 11 this year from the VVIP guest room adjacent to the jailor’s office inside the Chitrakoot jail.

During investigation, it was discovered that she used to meet Abbas inside the jail for three to four hours every second or third day. Her visits were facilitated by local jail authorities, and not logged in the jail register.

Abbas Ansari was relocated to the Kasganj district jail after the incident came to light.

Seven persons were arrested in the case, including Nikhat. The Supreme Court granted her bail on August 11.

Abbas’ father, gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, is serving a jail sentence and faces trial in multiple cases as part of a crackdown ordered by chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

Abbas was himself arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2022 in connection with a money laundering case.