Don-turned-MLA Ansari appears before court in riots case

Mau, June 3 (UNI) Don-turned-Independent MLA from Mau Mukhtar Ansari and 32 others today appeared before the district and sessions court in connecton with the Mau communal riots case.

Judge S K Tripathi posted the case for hearing on June 12.

Meanwhile, the statements of three witnesses were recorded. They have turned hostile.

Of the 14 witnesses cross-examinsed so far, 13 have already been proclaimed as hostile.

The court accepted Ansari's application seeking exemption from personal appearance in case hearing.

On April 12, the statement of four other witnesses would be recorded. A total of 28 witnesses are to be examined in the case.

On May 20, the court had fixed charges against the 33 accused in the case. The charges pertained to murder and attempt to murder during the communal riots, which had rocked Mau on October 14, 2005 during a 'Bharat Milap' ceremony.

The MLA, alongwith his elder brother and Samajwadi party MP Afzal Ansari and brother-in-law Ejaz is also prime accused in the assassination of Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Rai, an 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 criminals armed with sophisticated weapons.

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

Afzal surrendered in the court on December 8. The Ansari brothers ard Ejaz are presently lodged in Ghazipur district prison.

UNI XC/VS RSC RR KN1540