Mukhtar Ansari fails to appear before court in Mau riots case

Mau, Uttar Pradesh, Apr 25 (UNI) Mau communal riots case accused and local don-turned-Independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari today failed to appear before the court for the hearing.

On Friday, Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Anil Kumar Pandey had taken a stringent note of Ansari's continuous absence on hearings.

The CJM had issued a show cause notice to Ghazipur jail superintendent asking him to personally appear before the court on April 24 and ensure Ansari's presence in the court today.

However, the controversial MLA failed to appear yet again.

The jail superintendent had been asked to explain why Ansari -- lodged in his prison -- had not been produced in the court, while all other accused had appeared on case hearings.

The Mau communal riots had rocked Mau on October 14, 2005 during a 'Bharat Milap' ceremony.

Ansari is lodged in Ghazipur jail and been advised bed rest by doctors.

The MLA, alongwith his elder brother and Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari and brother-in-law Ejaj Ahmad, are also prime accused in the assassination of Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

A similar show cause notice was issued to the jail superintendent by Ghazipur CJM for the continues absence of the trio in the Rai murder case.

Rai, MLA from Mohammadabad assembly constituency in Ghazipur district, and his seven supporters were shot dead in broad daylight in Ghazipur on November 29 last year.

They were ambushed near the Ballia-Ghazipur border by several motorcycle-borne miscreants armed with sophisticated weapons.

Later, an FIR was lodged against 10 persons including Mukhtar, Afzal and notorious east UP gangster Munna Bajrangi in connection with the killing.

Afzal surrendered in the court on December 8 last.

UNI XC/VS RA PC1934