CHANDIGARH: Was UP’s controversial politician Mukhtar Ansari given VVIP treatment when he was lodged in the Rupnagar jail in Punjab for about two years since 2019? An AAP government-initiated probe report is likely to be out soon. Sources said a senior police officer is heading the investigation and that he is vetting the final report before handing the findings to Chief Minister Bhangwant Mann.
There are allegations that Ansari received ‘VVIP’ treatment in prison during the previous Congress government. He reportedly stayed away from the prison barrack and lived in a residential accommodation permissible to a jail official within the prison compound. The facilities allegedly extended to him included an air-conditioner and fridge besides home-cooked food. “All these allegations are being probed,’’ said a senior officer.
The role of a senior retired IPS officer and a former state minister could be under the scanner. “These were the officers responsible for facilitating the VVIP treatment to Ansari,’’ said an official. Sources said a jail official kept himself off the case after allegedly receiving threats when he tried to enforce the rules. “The official has started getting fresh threats that he should ‘keep quiet’ as the probe is going on,” said a source.
Punjab Jail Minister Harjot Singh Bains said Ansari did enjoy VVIP treatment. “Limits were crossed. More revelations will be made in the inquiry report and action will follow,’’ said Bains. During a debate in the Assembly in June, Bains had accused the previous Congress government of providing VVIP treatment to Ansari. The charge led to heated exchanges between him and the leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa.
Ansari’s custody was handed to the Uttar Pradesh Police last year and he was transferred to UP’s Banda prison. Ansari had been lodged in the Rupnagar jail since January 2019 in a case related to extortion. Earlier, the Supreme Court had directed the Punjab government to hand over Ansari’s custody to the UP police, rejecting the medical grounds on which he was sought to remain in the Punjab jail.
ED conducts raids at 11 premises of Mukhtar Ansari, brother Afzal
Lucknow/ New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on 11 premises of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Afzal Ansari and his brother. mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, and their aides on Thursday in connection with a money laundering case. The ED carried out searches at locations across Lucknow, Ghazipur and Mau in Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. Units of the Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) accompanied ED officials in guarding the premises during searches. According to sources, the family house of the Ansaris in Ghazipur’s Mohammadabad, besides Afzal’s property in Lucknow’s Dalibagh locality, and a building owned by Mukhtar’s associates in Hussainganj, were searched. In Mau, the stronghold of Ansaris, ED officials raided the premises of three business associates of the Ansaris, including a bus operator. Properties of chartered accountants of Mukhtar, and two other property dealers were also searched in New Delhi. The ED raids were carried out in connection with a case registered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in 2021 against Mukhtar Ansari.