The Uttar Pradesh government is cracking down hard on don Mukhtar Ansari. On Saturday, Jaunpur district administration had issued an order to attach the properties of fish mafia Ravindra Nishad, a close associate of Mukhtar Ansari. The Tehsildar was assigned the task of attaching the properties of Nishad and with the help of Jaunpur police, Nishad’s business establishments were sealed by the government.
#यूपी में मुख़्तार अंसारी गैंग के लोगों की संपत्ति इस तरह गाजे बाजे के साथ ज़ब्त की जा रही है @Uppolice @ABPNews @PrashantK_IPS90 pic.twitter.com/RKrrhRuLNv
— Pankaj Jha (@pankajjha_) July 17, 2020
A video shared by journalist Pankaj Jha showed that the Jaunpur administration has been attaching the properties with local ‘band-baja’ announcements.
Illegal fish business
As per reports, on July 3, the UP Police had caught a truck loaded with fish illegally transported from Andhra Pradesh in the Jogiyapur area of Jaunpur. Fish mafia Ravindra Nishad and his Andhra associate B Narang Rao were arrested. The police have informed that for years, Nishad has been running an illegal fish business worth crores, under protection from mafia don Mukhtar Ansari.
Nishad had neither applied for any license nor have registered any of his business establishments. He has been reportedly running the business with active support from Ansari and used to give a share of profits to Ansari. Nishad has been arrested under the gangster act.
On the basis of initial details of Nishad’s illegally acquired assets obtained during the investigation, DM Jaunpur had ordered the attachment of properties worth 3.71 crores. Nishad has been granted a time three months from the date of the order to appeal against the attachment. The attached properties include a bullet bike, 2 pick up trucks, a house, shop and an under-construction shopping mall, apart from bank accounts.
Cancellations of arms licenses
Apart from Jaunpur, the UP Police has taken action against don Mukhtar Ansari’s mafia kingdom in Ghazipur too. As per reports, arms licenses of at least 4 known associates of Ansari have been cancelled. The administration has also sealed the properties worth 58 lakhs of one Brijesh Sonkar, Ansari’s shooter.
On July 5, a godown, allegedly constructed on illegal land, was demolished. The godson was reportedly being constructed under the name of M/s Vikas Constructions where Ansari’s wife Afsa Begum and hi brother in law Atif Raja are shareholders. On July 12, at least 20 members of Ansari’s gang were booked under the gangster act.
Ghazipur DM OP Arya had also stated that properties worth 33.8 crores have already been freed from the illegal occupation of Ansari and his associates. At least 33 weapons have been seized and deposited after cancellations of their licenses. At least 17 gangsters running illegal businesses in association with Ansari have been identified and action is being taken against them.
Who is Mukhtar Ansari?
Ansari is a politician and a mafia don. He had been associated with Bahujan Samaj Party earlier. Ansari has been an MLA from Mau constituency for a record five times. He was expelled from the BSP in 2010, but later was given an entry again and had won the 2017 assembly elections from Mau. He had been in jail for the murder of BJP leader Krishnanand Rai. But was acquitted by the CBI court in 2019 after the witnesses turned hostile. His grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari was once the president of the Indian National Congress and Muslim League.
