LUCKNOW: Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari was brought back to Uttar Pradesh`s Banda jail early on Wednesday from a Punjab prison. Ansari was lodged at Punjab`s Rupnagar jail in January 2019 in connection with an extortion case. A convoy of six police vans, an anti-riot vehicle accompanied the don in an ambulance covering a distance of 882km spanning three states for over a 16-hour journey.

Ansari returned to Banda jail almost 27 months after he was lodged here till January 2019. The Punjab government has written to the Uttar Pradesh administration stating that it would transfer the custody of the jailed gangster-turned-politician on or before April 8. The two states have been at loggerheads over the transfer of Ansari to UP and the matter was eventually sorted out by the Supreme Court which set aside the Punjab government’s plea to allow the don to stay put in Ropar jail on medical grounds.

On March 26, the apex court had directed the Punjab government to send Ansari back to Uttar Pradesh. "A separate cell has been prepared where Mukhtar Ansari will be kept and a 24x7 medical team will also look after him," senior police officials said.

He will also be under constant surveillance of the cops as CCTVs have been installed all around the barrack where the don will be lodged. Mukhtar Ansari hails from Ghazipur district and is a history-sheeter criminal from Mehmodabad police station with 52 cases in his name, of which 15 cases are pending in the court.

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