Mukhtar Ansari appears in court

Mau, June 12 (UNI) Independent MLA from Mau, Mukhtar Ansari and 32 others today appeared before the district court in connection with the Mau communal riots case.

The hearing will continue tomorrow in the court of district and sessions judge S K Tripathi.

Meanwhile, the statement of five more witnesses were recorded.

They have turned hostile. Of the 19 witnesses cross-examined so far, 18 have already been proclaimed as hostile.

Tomorrow, the statement of nine other witnesses will be recorded.

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.

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

Rai, an MLA from Mohammadabad assembly constituency in Ghazipur district, and seven of his supporters were shot dead in broad daylight 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. The Ansari brothers ard Ejaz are presently lodged in Ghazipur district prison.

UNI XC/VS LR KN1728