On 28th March, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died after suffering cardiac arrest. Reacting to Ansari’s death, deceased BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai’s son Piyush Rai said that Mukhtar Ansari’s death is truly Baba Gorakhnath’s blessing for his family, maybe even some kind of Allah’s justice in the month of Ramzan.
There were celebratory fireworks at Rai’s house as the news of Ansari’s death came out.
“I have come to know that he has died in Banda jail. As the media is saying he [Ansari] has died due to a heart attack. I believe this is the blessing of Baba Gorakhnath. Justice has been served. Somewhere I think it is Allah’s justice in the holy month of Ramzan that a dreaded criminal like Mukhtar Ansari has died…” Piyush Rai said.
मुख्तार अंसारी की मौत पर BJP के पूर्व MLA कृष्णा नंद राय के बेटे पीयूष राय ने कहा –
— Sachin Gupta (@SachinGuptaUP) March 29, 2024
"ये बाबा गोरखनाथ का आशीर्वाद है कि आज उनके दरबार से ये न्याय सुनने को मिला है"
"रमजान के पावन महीने में अल्लाह का भी ये न्याय मान सकता हूं कि ऐसे अपराधी का पृथ्वी से अंत हुआ है" pic.twitter.com/1RyWFQoPwG
Taking to Facebook, Rai wrote, “Karma ke daayre mein jab tum utaroge, toh uski saza tumhein tadapne tak nhi chhodegi (When you come down from the realm of karma, its punishment will not leave you to suffer)”.
In another post, Piyush Rai shared a video of firecrackers being burst reportedly at his residence in Ghazipur. Rai said that there was an “atmosphere of Diwali” in the Muhammadabad constituency following Ansari’s death.
“Who says that the harmony of Ghazipur will deteriorate #मुहम्मदाबाद378 the assembly, the atmosphere of happiness in Ghazipur, Diwali all night. End of the offender’s guilt ledger. Jai Baba Gorakhnath.” Jai Shri Ram,” Rai posted on Facebook.
Meanwhile, Krishnanand Rai’s nephew Anand Rai has said that “the family of Mukhtar Ansari will now feel the pain that his family went through at the time of his uncle’s murder.”
Reacting to the allegation made by Ansari’s family that the jailed mafia was given slow poison in Banda Jail, Anand Rai said, “Medical bulletin clearly says he died due to heart attack but relatives will put some blame.”
“A sense of happiness has prevailed in the family after waiting for 19 years. He [Mukhtar Ansari] was no saint that some people are giving statements making hue and cry on television. He had 50-60 criminal cases against him out of which around 25-30 were of murder other than kidnapping and other crimes,” Anand Rai said.
मुख्तार अंसारी कोई संत नहीं था, इस पर हत्या और अपहरण के कई मुकदमे थे, जेल में तानाशाह की तरह रहा है, अपराधी की मृत्यु हुई है, हाय-तौबा मचाने की जरूरत नहीं है: आनंद राय
— UP Tak (@UPTakOfficial) March 29, 2024
मुख्तार अंसारी की मौत पर बोले कृष्णानंद राय के भतीजे आनंद राय।#MukhtarAnsari #Ghazipur #AnandRai #UPTakBits pic.twitter.com/swhjxJbTqa
Gruesome murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai
On the fateful day of 29 November 2005, which the residents of Ghazipur still refer to as ‘Black Day’, the then BJP MLA from Muhammadabad, Krishnanand Rai was murdered while he was attending a wedding in his native village. The killing was one of the most sensational murders in the history of Uttar Pradesh.
A volley of bullets fired at Rai, along with six others in Ghazipur, led to their death. The assassination was carried out by a group of assailants armed with AK-47 assault rifles. The police had recovered more than 400 bullet shells from the spot while 21 bullets were recovered from Rai’s body alone.
Mukhtar Ansari and his brother Afzal Ansari were named as the primary conspirators in the FIR filed in the case. The police investigation also revealed the involvement of gangster Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi, a close associate of the Ansari brothers.
A detailed history of the mafia, his rise in crime and politics, and the eventual downfall under the Yogi Adityanath government can be read here.