UP BREAKING: On Monday, the court sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to life imprisonment in the Varanasi Avadhesh Rai murder case. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh. This decision of the court has come after almost 32 years. Awadhesh Rai was the brother of former Congress MLA Ajay Rai. Mukhtar is currently lodged in Banda jail. He was presented virtually during the hearing. The plaintiff’s lawyer said that the court has convicted Mukhtar under section 302 and sentenced him.
After the MP/MLA court’s decision, Mukhtar’s lawyer Akhilesh Upadhyay said, “There are many shortcomings in this decision. We will go to the High Court against it.” Meanwhile, prosecution lawyer Anuj Yadav said, “Death sentence was expected, but we are satisfied with the verdict. If Mukhtar’s side goes to the High Court, we will fight the case there with the same vigor.” Apart from these arguments of the lawyers, mafia Mukhtar Ansari, lodged in Banda jail of UP, made a separate request to the judge regarding the food and drink arrangements there. On Friday, hearing in the ambulance and gangster case was held in Barabanki MP/MLA court through video conferencing. During this, Mukhtar appealed to the court that he has to eat crisps and biscuits in jail. My Lord! Get it arranged. Hearing this demand of Mukhtar, the judge also smiled.
Firing with automatic weapons, the attackers ran away leaving the van.
Awadhesh Rai’s house was in Lahurabir area of Varanasi. On August 3, 1991, at 1 pm, Awadhesh was standing outside the house with his brother Ajay Rai. At the same time suddenly 5 attackers arrived in a Maruti van. They fired on Awadhesh Rai with automatic weapons. When Ajay Rai tried to catch the attackers after the incident, they left their van and ran away from the spot. Ajay Rai took his blood-soaked brother to the nearby Kabir Chaura hospital in the same van in which the attackers had come. There the doctors declared him dead.
The postmortem report revealed that Awadhesh Rai was hit by 4 bullets. The reason for this massacre was said to be a war for supremacy. Actually, at that time there was enmity between Brijesh Singh and Mukhtar Ansari in Varanasi. Awadhesh Rai’s family was close to Brijesh Singh. Due to this the murder was carried out. In this case, Ajay Rai had lodged an FIR against former MLA Abdul Kalam along with Bhim Singh, Kamlesh Singh, Rakesh at Chetganj police station, calling Mukhtar the main attacker.
At the same time, after the decision, Ajay Rai said, my being an MLA gave me a lot of strength. I stood firm against such a big mafia for 32 years. The aim of my political life was to challenge Mukhtar.
Two accused in Awadhesh Rai murder case have died
Mukhtar is currently lodged in Banda jail. Whereas the second accused Bhim Singh has been sentenced to 10 years in a gangster case. He is lodged in Ghazipur jail. Two other accused Kamlesh Singh and former MLA Abdul Kalam have died. The fifth accused Rakesh had got his file separated from Mukhtar in this case. His case is going on in Prayagraj Session Court.
When Mukhtar committed the crime, he was not an MLA. Even when the verdict came in the case, he was not an MLA. In about 9 months, Mukhtar has been convicted in 5 cases. After the riots in Mau, Mukhtar surrendered in Ghazipur court on October 25, 2005. Since then he has been in jail for about 18 years.
Before the decision, Mukhtar had expressed fear of attack
Before the verdict in Awadhesh Rai murder case was announced, Mukhtar had expressed fear of attack on himself. Mukhtar’s lawyer had filed an application in the court on 29 April. In this, apprehension was expressed that Mukhtar might be attacked in jail. Many people are trying for this. According to the lawyer, Mukhtar had told him that some unknown people had tried to enter his barrack in the jail.
Actually, the hearing of this case was going on in the ADJ Court of Varanasi, but in 2007, during the hearing, a bomb blast took place outside the court. Accused Rakesh had gone to the High Court regarding this, calling it a security threat. Later, MP/MLA court was formed in Prayagraj and due to Mukhtar becoming MLA, the hearing was held in Prayagraj. However, later when MP/MLA court was formed in Varanasi, the hearing against only Mukhtar was shifted to Varanasi.
Mukhtar gets 5th sentence in 9 months, life imprisonment for the first time
Mukhtar has been sentenced 5 times in about 9 months. On September 22, 2022, Mukhtar was sentenced to 7 years by the Lucknow bench of the High Court and the very next day to 5 years in the gangster case. After this, on December 15, 2022, Mukhtar was sentenced to 10 years in prison in a total of 5 cases, including the attack on the Additional SP.
After this, the MP/MLA court of Ghazipur sentenced Mukhtar in two gangster cases on April 29, 2023. The first case was registered in 1996. In this, Mukhtar and his co-accused Bhim Singh were sentenced to 10 years each. Whereas, the second case of gangster was of 2007. In this, Mukhtar was sentenced to 10 years and his brother Afzal Ansari was sentenced to 4 years. On Monday, Mukhtar was sentenced for the 5th time.
A total of 61 cases are registered against Mukhtar
After the riots in Mau, Mukhtar Ansari surrendered in Ghazipur court on October 25, 2005. Since then he is in jail. There are 61 cases registered against Mukhtar Ansari in different police stations of Ghazipur, Varanasi, Mau and Azamgarh. Of these, 8 cases are those which were registered while he was in jail. Most of the cases relate to murder. Maximum cases are registered in his home district Ghazipur.
Original case diary missing during hearing Avadhesh Rai murder case
The original case diary had gone missing during the hearing of the case. This came to light in June this year when Chetganj police station in-charge filed the photo state case diary in the MP/MLA court. Mukhtar’s lawyer Srinath Tripathi had raised objection on filing the photo state in the court. Whereas the prosecution had demanded hearing on the basis of photo state. The prosecution argued that Mukhtar had used his influence to make the original case diary disappear.
