Mukhtar Ansari's Burial: Ghazipur Tightens Security As Body Laid To Rest

The mortal remains of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari were laid to rest., on Saturday morning. His body was received at his residence in Uttar Pradesh's Gazipur district, late on Friday night. Heavy police deployment for the funeral was arranged by the city's administration.

It was announced by Mukhtar Ansari's elder brother Sibgatullah Ansari that the last rites would be performed on Saturday morning.

Photo Credit: PTI

Mukhtar Ansari's Burial

"We received the body after some delay so the last rites cannot be performed tonight. It will be done tomorrow morning. I request everybody to pray for him," stated Sibgatullah Ansari, as reported by ANI on Friday. Mukhtar Ansari, a murder convict, passed away in a hospital in Banda, where he was incarcerated. His demise was attributed to a cardiac arrest. However, his family alleged that the local administration administered what they termed "slow poison."

It has been reported by sources within the family that the last rites of Mukhtar Ansari, who passed away due to a cardiac arrest on Thursday and whose body was brought to his hometown around midnight on Friday, are scheduled to be conducted around 10 am.

The post-mortem examination of Mukhtar Ansari confirmed that he died of cardiac arrest and not poisoning. A panel of five doctors conducted the autopsy on Friday, with a senior hospital source overseeing the process and having access to the report, who, on condition of anonymity, informed PTI that "the cause of death of Mukhtar Ansari was found to be heart attack (myocardial infarction)." Mukhtar Ansari's younger son Umar Ansari was present during the post-mortem conducted at the Rani Durgavati Medical College.

Judicial probe into Mukhtar Ansari's death

A three-member team has been tasked with conducting a magisterial investigation into Mukhtar Ansari's death. Despite Umar Ansari's request for the postmortem examination to be conducted at Delhi's AIIMS being denied, he expressed hope that the probe would alleviate the family's concerns. Umar Ansari stated on Friday that they would seek the court's assistance in investigating their suspicions, confident that the death was not natural but a planned murder.

How did Mukhtar Ansari die?

Mukhtar Ansari was brought to the hospital at 8:25 pm on Thursday, where he was attended to by a team of nine doctors, but he passed away during treatment. It was claimed by Sibgatullah Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari's elder brother, that proper treatment was not given to him.

Ghazipur Tightens Security

Security arrangements have been bolstered outside the residence of Mukhtar Ansari in Ghazipur and at a burial ground in the Uttar Pradesh district in anticipation of the last rites of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari on Saturday. Security personnel in significant numbers have been deployed around the Ansari residence and the burial ground, which is situated at a distance of about a kilometre and a half.

In a post on X on Friday, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and Mukhtar Ansari's nephew Suhaib Ansari conveyed: "My uncle Mukhtar Ansari passed away last night. Tomorrow, at 10 am, he will be buried in our Kali Bagh graveyard of Yusufpur Mohammadabad (Ghazipur). All of you are requested to pray for the forgiveness of the deceased."

Following the post-mortem examination on Friday, a convoy carrying Ansari's body was dispatched from Banda to his native place in Ghazipur at around 5:30 pm amidst tight security.

The ambulance transporting the body was accompanied by police vehicles along the 400-kilometer route traversing several districts of Uttar Pradesh. Mukhtar Ansari, who was incarcerated in the Banda jail, was rushed to Rani Durgawati Medical College on Thursday night when his health deteriorated. He passed away at the hospital during treatment.