Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies: A look at the life and times of the 'Bahubali’ from eastern UP

Gangster-politician died following a cardiac arrest in Uttar Pradesh's Banda on March 28. Ansari, a former five-time legislator, was facing about 63 criminal cases involving murder, kidnapping, and extortion. 

Lodged in different jails of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for most of the time since 2005, Ansari was once among Uttar Pradesh’s most dreaded ‘bahubalis'- a Hindi word for strongmen who are into politics too. 

Ansari represented the Mau (Sadar) assembly seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh between 1997 and 2022. 

While he was acquitted in most of the cases against him, Ansari, 60, was, however, convicted in at least eight criminal cases since 2022. In April 2023, Ansari was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the 2005 murder of BJP MLA . 

Police and locals say Rai's killing was the in the history of Uttar Pradesh. Rai's body was sprayed with bullets along with six others by the assailants with AK-47 assault rifles. Over 400 bullet shells were recovered from the crime scene, the police said. 

Rai had defeated Mukhtar's brother and five-time MLA from Mohammadabad in the 2002 UP Assembly polls. Mukhtar was in jail in a riots case at the time of Rai's murder. Ansari brothers were accused in the murder. 

In another case, Ansari was, in June 2023, convicted in the 1991 murder of Awadesh Rai, brother of Congress leader In the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Ajay Rai is contesting against Prime Minister in Varanasi. 

Earlier this month, Mukhtar  was awarded a life sentence for his involvement in a dating back to 1986. 

Ansari was born on June 30, 1963, in Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh. The photographs hanging on the walls of his ancestral house, known as ‘pathak’ in Mohammadabad, bear witness to the many famous and infamous personalities