SAD seeks probe into use of ambulance by Mukthar Ansari

Chandigarh, Apr 06: The Shiromani Akali Dal on Monday sought a probe into the use of a private ambulance by Punjab police for ferrying gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from jail to a court last week.

It has also come to light that the Punjab Police allowed Ansari to commander a private ambulance to ferry him to a Mohali court from the Rupnagar jail in violation of all norms. This ambulance has now been found abandoned near Rupnagar , Shiromani Akai Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema said.

He claimed all this has lent credence to the assertions of the Uttar Pradesh police that the Punjab government was in cahoots with Ansari and that there were orders from the very top to facilitate him in every manner possible. There cannot be any other answer as to why the Punjab Police allowed Ansari the use of a private ambulance which had been registered on the basis of fake documents. This could be part of a bigger conspiracy which needs to the unearthed by a free and fair probe by a central agency, Cheema said in a statement here.

The ambulance, which was used to ferry Ansari to a Mohali court was found abandoned outside a roadside eatery at Chandigarh-Nangal highway in Punjab's Rupnagar district on Saturday.

The BSP MLA from Mau, who is wanted in Uttar Pradesh for various cases, was taken in the ambulance from Rupnagar jail to a Mohali court in connection with an alleged 2019 extortion matter on March 31.

A case was registered in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki after the documents of the ambulance were found to be fake and one person was arrested on Monday.

The opposition Shiromani Akali Dal had earlier accused the Punjab government of giving "political shelter" to Ansari by keeping him in Rupnagar jail as a "state guest" on "trumped-up charges .

The Supreme Court had recently directed the Punjab government to hand over the custody of Ansari to the Uttar Pradesh Police within two weeks after which a UP police team left for Punjab on Monday.