Ruling party MP appears in BJP MLA murder case

Ghazipur, June 26 (UNI) Ruling Samajwadi Party MP Afzal Ansari and his younger brother and Independent MLA from Mau, Mukhtar Ansari were today produced before the court in the murder case of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai.

Officiating judge SC/ST Act Udit Narayan Singh posted the case to July 3 for fixing of charges in the high-profile case.

Co-accused and Ansaris' brother-in-law Ejaz was present in the court. The trio are lodged in Ghazipur district jail.

Mukhtar and 32 others are also accused in Mau communal riots, which had rocked the district on October 14, 2005 during a 'Bharat Milap' ceremony.

Rai, an MLA from Mohammadabad assembly constituency in Ghazipur district, and his seven supporters were shot dead 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.

UNI XC/VS MA RK2128