LUCKNOW Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died following a cardiac arrest on Thursday evening in Banda, faced over 65 criminal cases, most of them for murder, extortion, and anti-social activities that were filed across several districts of UP and Delhi. But it is said that five killings - that of coal tycoon Nand Kishore Rungta, BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai, leading UP contractor Manna Singh, political rival Vishwanath Ram Munib and his archrival Awadhesh Rai - made Ansari the ‘uncrowned king’ of UP’s underworld.
The murder of Krishnanand Rai, 50, BJP MLA from Mohammadabad assembly, along with six associates on November 29, 2005, sparked outrage in UP. He was killed by a group of seven contract killers allegedly led by slain gangster Munna Bajrangi. They ambushed two SUVs of his motorcade at a narrow bridge in Bhawarkol area of Ghazipur district when he was going to inaugurate a local cricket tournament around 1.30pm. The assailants used weapons like AK-47 assault rifle and fired multiple rounds on his motorcade.
“The killing of the sitting MLA along with six others was one of the most sensational political murders in the history of UP,” according to a retired DIG, who was ASP in UP Special Task Force then. Recalling the gruesome murder, the officer said: “The police recovered more than 400 bullet shells from the spot.”
An audio clip purportedly of Mukhtar Ansari, who was then lodged in jail, surfaced during investigation, in which he was informing another gangster- turned-politician about Rai’s elimination soon after his killing. The clip was claimed to be intercepted by the electronic surveillance of STF.
{{/usCountry}}An audio clip purportedly of Mukhtar Ansari, who was then lodged in jail, surfaced during investigation, in which he was informing another gangster- turned-politician about Rai’s elimination soon after his killing. The clip was claimed to be intercepted by the electronic surveillance of STF.
{{/usCountry}}The then leading contractor of Azamgarh and east UP, Manna Singh and his accomplice Rajesh Rai, were shot dead in broad daylight under Mau city kotwali limits on August 29, 2009. Ansari and 10 others were named in the case, but a Mau court acquitted nine people, including Mukhtar, while holding three others guilty in the case around seven years ago.
“Desperate to start his political career, Mukhtar Ansari allegedly got killed a Dalit politician Vishwanath Ram Munib, who was made BSP candidate from Mau Sadar assembly, in 1993,” said former UP DGP Brij Lal and BJP Rajya Sabha MP.
He said Munib was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants on November 19, 1993, just 12 hours before the polling scheduled for the next day on November 20. “Due to Mukhtar Ansari’s fear, one Kailash Yadav refused to contest from Mau Sadar when he was made BSP candidate in the bypoll. Later, BSP chief Mayawati made Mukhtar Ansari her party candidate from Mau (Sadar) in 1996 assembly polls, when he was first elected as MLA,” added the former DGP.
BJP leader and coal trader Nand Kishore Rungta was kidnapped and murdered on January 22, 1997. It is said that Mukhtar Ansari allegedly killed Rungta to prove his supremacy in the coal business. Rungta’s brother Mahavir Rungta had accused Ansari of the murder.
Ansari’s name had surfaced in the high-profile murder of Awadhesh Rai, the elder brother of UP Congress president Ajay Rai. Awadhesh Rai was sprayed with bullets when he and brother Ajay were standing outside their house in the Lahurabeer locality of Varanasi on August 3, 1991. In June 2023, Ghazipur MP/MLA court sentenced Ansari to life imprisonment in the case.