LUCKNOW: Six months after she was arrested for illegally meeting her husband, MLA Abbas Ansari, inside a Chitrakoot prison, Nikhat Ansari walked out of the jail premises late on Thursday after being granted bail.
Nikhat Ansari’s son, a toddler, was at the prison gate with a family member to receive her at about 10,30pm on Thursday. She picked him up and held him in a tight embrace as they walked out to the car, according to a widely-circulated video of her exit from the prison.
Hours earlier, Nikhat Ansari appeared before a Lucknow anti-corruption court that signed off on her release orders on the condition that she only meets her husband in jail again after first getting approval from the trial court, a condition listed by the Supreme Court when it agreed to grant her bail in view of her one-year-old child and the nature of allegations against her.
Nikhat Ansari was arrested on February 11 for illegally entering the jail along with her driver Niyaz. Chitrakoot superintendent of police Vrinda Shukla found her in the guest room next to the jailor’s office during a surprise check. Two mobile phones, foreign currency and other prohibited items were seized from her.
Seven jail officials including the jail superintendent were suspended in this connection. Five people including prison officials and a local Samajwadi Party leader who helped Nikhat were also arrested in this connection.
{{/usCountry}}Seven jail officials including the jail superintendent were suspended in this connection. Five people including prison officials and a local Samajwadi Party leader who helped Nikhat were also arrested in this connection.
{{/usCountry}}During the investigation, it turned out that Nikhat visited her husband every 2-3 days in collusion with the jail officials. There were no entries about her visits to the jail though she would spend about 3-4 hours on each visit. Police accused Nikhat and others of helping Abbas run his business and conduct political and other dealings from inside the jail over the phones that Nikhat brought.
Her husband Abbas Ansari, who won the Mau seat on a Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) ticket, was shifted out of Chitrakoot jail to Kasganj jail 500km away on February 18 after Nikhat was caught.
Abbas Ansari’s father, gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari is serving jail sentence and faces trial in multiple cases as part of the crackdown ordered by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Abbas was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in November 2022 in connection with a money laundering case.