Mukhtar Ansari brought to hospital after his health deteriorates in jail

Mukhtar Ansari was earlier hospitalised on March 26 after he complained of abdomen pain.

Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought to Banda Medical College Hospital on Thursday evening after his health deteriorated. His lawyer Naseem Haider confirmed the development and said he reached the hospital after receiving the information. Recently, he was hospitalised as he complained of abdominal pain in jail. His brother Afzal Ansari said Mukhtar Ansari was poisoned in jail by a substance mixed in food.

Mukhtar Ansari was hospitalised on Thursday evening after his health condition deteriorated in jail.(HT_PRINT)

People gathered at Ansari's residence in Ghazipur as he was taken to the hospital with his health condition deteriorating. 

“Mukhtar said that he was given a poisonous substance in food in jail. This happened for the second time. Around 40 days ago also he was given poison. And recently on March 19 of March 22, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition is bad,” Afzal, an MP from Ghazipur, said when his brother was recently hospitalised.

The UP prison department then issued a statement that after Mukhtar Ansari fell in the toilet at night, he was immediately provided with treatment by the jail doctor.

Mukhtar Ansari has been behind bars in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh since 2005. The 60-year-old don-turned-politician has over 60 criminal cases pending against him. He has been sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts of UP and was lodged in the Banda jail.

His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year. His family members had earlier expressed apprehension that Mukhtar Ansari could be killed in a fake encounter.

On March 13, Mukhtar Ansari was sentenced to life imprisonment in a case related to the use of forged documents for obtaining an arms licence in 1990. This was the eighth case in which the former five-time MLA has been convicted and sentenced by a court in Uttar Pradesh in the past two years. Ansari was also sentenced to six months of imprisonment under Section 30 of the Arms Act.