LUCKNOW: A special contingent of Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday left Banda for Punjab in 20 vehicles to take mafia don Mukhtar Ansari into their custody and bring him back to the state.
The convoy was divided into three teams and went to Punjab in three different routes which has been kept confidential.
On reaching Ropar, the senior officers will take a call on one of the three routes to be taken to bring the gangster back to Uttar Pradesh. The police contingent comprises PAC jawans, an ambulance with a team of doctors, pharmacists, and paramedics from Banda district hospital, a circle officer, two inspectors, six head constables, and 40 constables.
The ambulance accompanying the fleet of vehicles is equipped with all the life-saving and emergency equipment including oxygen cylinders etc.
Ansari, a sitting BSP MLA from Mau, has been lodged in Ropar jail since January 2019. He would be brought back to UP after more than two years as he faces around 52 criminal cases ranging from murder, abduction, extortion, intimidation pending in the MP-MLA Court in Prayagraj.
The Punjab Police agreed to hand over the gangster only after the intervention of the Supreme Court which passed an order on March 26 directing the Punjab government to shift Mukhtar Ansari to UP within two weeks. UP police team had returned empty-handed nine times from Punjab in the past.
Prayagraj ADG Prem Prakash has been entrusted with the responsibility of making fool-proof arrangements for bringing Ansari safely back to Banda. The entire operation is led by I-G Chitrakoot Dham K Sathyanarayana.
The special team has been properly briefed about the safety precautions they have to take after securing the custody of mafia don from Ropar Jail authorities. Ansari will be sitting in the Vajra vehicle which is specially designed by the DRDO for police to control riots.
As per the sources, senior police and district officials met late Sunday night to give a final shape to mafia don’s security plan.
A three-layered security blanket has been thrown around the Banda jail where two barracks have been merged to form a high security ‘tanhai cell’ where Ansari will be housed. He will undergo a thorough medical checkup and Covid test at the jail hospital and then will be kept in isolation at the barrack.
The outermost security ring will be manned by two teams of civil police each led by an SI-rank officer and 10 armed constables. The second security ring would comprise special CCTVs that have been installed at the entry points and a team of five jail officials deputed to keep an eye on footage round-the-clock. The third and the innermost ring comprise a team of jail warders to ensure the security of the former gangster.