Lucknow: Allowing a petition by Uttar Pradesh government, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the transfer of custody of gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari from Punjab’s Ropar jail to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh within two weeks. Punjab government had sternly opposed the UP plea and sought its dismissal.

The apex court was hearing two transfer petitions –– one filed by the UP government seeking transfer of Ansari, a BSP MLA from Mau assembly constituency, from Punjab to UP and another by the accused himself, who sought a transfer of cases against him to Delhi. The transfer plea by Ansari was dismissed, reported Bar & Bench..

Ansari was booked for extortion (Section 386 of Indian Penal Code) and criminal intimidation (Section 506 of the IPC) on the complaint of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Homeland Group engaged in real estate business in Punjab and Delhi National Capital Region. In his complaint to the Mohali SSP, the CEO stated that on January 9, 2019 evening he answered a call from a person who introduced himself as “some Ansari from UP” and asked him to pay up Rs 10 crore if he wanted to ensure the safety of his family. The complainant said he had recorded the call.

The police lodged an FIR in which Ansari was named as the accused with his address as Banda, Uttar Pradesh. The Punjab Police brought Ansari on production warrant from a jail in Uttar Pradesh about a fortnight after the registration of this case. He has been lodged in the Ropar jail since then.

In October last year, BJP MLA Alka Rai, wife of former BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai who was shot dead in Ghazipur in 2005, had written to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, accusing the Congress government in Punjab of helping jailed Ansari evade court appearances in UP. Ansari was named as a key conspirator in Krishnanand’s murder case. A special court in Delhi acquitted him IN 2019.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.