Charges fixed against don-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari in riots case

Mau, May 20 (UNI) The district court today fixed charges against don-turned-Independent MLA Mukhtar Ansari and 32 others in the Mau communal riots case.

The charges imposed pertained to murder and attempt to murder during the riots last year.

District and sessions judge S K Tripathi fixed May 25 as the next date of hearing. Ansari was present in the court.

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

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

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. The Ansari brothers are presently lodged in Ghazipur district prison.

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