Through his counsel, Randheer Singh Suman, Mukhtar had filed an application on March 21 in a special MP/MLA court at Barabanki, alleging that on March 19, the food given to him for dinner in jail was contaminated with a “poisonous substance”, which caused him to become gravely unwell.
India Tomorrow
LUCKNOW—A week before convicted former legislator Mukhtar Ansari was rushed to Rani Durgawati Medical College in Banda for stomach pain, which led to his admission in the intensive care unit (ICU) and eventual death from what was believed to be a “cardiac arrest”, an Uttar Pradesh court had requested a report from jail officials in Banda regarding his claims that his meal had been contaminated with some poisonous substance at least twice in a 40-day period.
Mukhtar’s plea was heard by Special Judge Kamal Kant Srivastava of the MP/MLA Court in Barabanki on March 21. Srivastava had ordered the superintendent of the Banda jail to furnish a report regarding Mukhtar’s health and security over the poisoning allegation by March 29.
During the hearing in a 2022 Gangsters Act case against him, Mukhtar had filed an application through his lawyer in this regard, and the court issued a directive in response.
Mukhtar had claimed in his application submitted on March 21 to the Barabanki court that on March 19, the food given to him for dinner in jail was contaminated with a “poisonous substance”, which caused him to become gravely unwell.
After having the meal, Mukhtar reported feeling restless and experiencing discomfort in his limbs initially, followed by the rest of his body.
“My feet and hands turned cold. I was feeling like I was going to die. I was uneasy. My health was good before that,” he had stated in his application.
In addition, he said that he had been administered a “slow poison” with his food some 40 days back as well.
Mukhtar had claimed in his two-page appeal that several inmates, including one who would taste his food before it was fed to him, felt sick as well and that they all needed to be treated.
He had begged the court to establish a medical board to oversee his overall care and to order an investigation into the entire incident. He urged the court to pass necessary instructions for his protection as well.
“There is now more danger to my life in prison. Any untoward incident can happen to me at any time,” Mukhtar had said, claiming his “poisoning” was part of “some big conspiracy”.
Judge Srivastava had instructed the Banda district jail superintendent to make sure that Mukhtar has an “adequate and proper” medical examination and medical facilities in accordance with the jail manual, acknowledging the grave accusations included in the application.
The jail officer was also ordered by the court to take the appropriate actions to ensure Mukhtar’s safety. The court issued a copy of the order to DIG Prisons, Prayagraj, which is responsible for Banda, and told the jail superintendent to submit a report till March 29.
Mahendra Singh, deputy jailer at district jail in Banda, notified the court on March 21 that Mukhtar was ill and could not be presented by video conference. His health had declined, the officer informed the court, and he was being given medical treatment.
Mukhtar was lodged in Banda jail where he was the subject of multiple criminal proceedings. Last year, his son Umar Ansari filed a petition in the Supreme Court claiming that the state government intended to kill Mukhtar there.
Speaking with the media late on March 28, following his father’s passing away, Umar restated his accusations and supported his late father’s legal suit.
“I am no one to make accusations. The victim had himself claimed that he had been fed poison with his dinner on March 19,” he said.
Umar added that he was denied the opportunity to see his father two days prior to the incident, when Mukhtar was admitted to the hospital because of abdominal problems.
“I learned about his passing from the media,” stated Umar, who also declared that he will legally pursue the matter. “It needs to be looked into as it’s matter of investigation,” he stated.
A medical bulletin from the hospital stated that Mukhtar, who had been under the radar of the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state since it took over in 2017, said he had fainted in his cell and was taken to the Rani Durgavati Medical College at approximately 8:25 pm on Thursday (March 26). He fell unconscious after vomiting.
After being brought to the emergency ward, he was treated right away by a group of nine doctors; however, the report stated that despite their best efforts, he died of “cardiac arrest”.
On Friday (March 29), Mukhtar’s body will undergo a post-mortem examination.
He abruptly spent several hours in the hospital on March 26, following his complaint of stomach ache.
According to the UP jail administration, Mukhtar’s condition “deteriorated suddenly” at night and “he fell in the toilet”, which is why he was taken to the hospital on Tuesday. After receiving initial care from the jail doctor, he was moved to the Banda Medical College in the middle of the night, according to a prison department spokesperson.
According to the hospital, he had “complaints of pain in the abdomen” and he was “unable to pass stool and had flatus for 4-5 days” when he was admitted on March 26 at 3:55 a.m. The Banda Medical College’s 8 am bulletin stated, “The patient is admitted and conservative treatment is started. The patient is currently stable.”
Mukhtar was eventually returned to jail after being released from the hospital’s intensive care unit. Afzal Ansari, ex-MP from Ghazipur, said his brother was given food mixed with a “poisonous substance”. There was a plot to kill him while he was incarcerated, he told reporters.
The hospital administration, according to Afzal, was under “pressure”. He claimed he had sought to speak to the medical college’s principal but his request was turned down. “Neither he agreed to speak in person, nor on phone call,” he added.
“I spoke to the doctor who along with two others were treating Mukhtar. He told me everything in one sentence: I am a surgeon, and it’s not a case of surgery. He looked helpless,” he stated, alleging the two others who were part of the medical board were pharmacists, and not doctors.
Afzal said, “Mukhtar had received treatment for his constipation. However, because of the gas, his stomach swelled, making it difficult for him to speak clearly.”
“Mukhtar claimed to have been fed poisonous food while incarcerated. This is the second time it has happened. He was also administered poison through food some 40 days back. And recently, on March 22, he was given the poison once more, which is the reason his health situation worsened,” he continued.
“We got a message from Mohammadbad police in Ghazipur that Mukhtar was ill and admitted to the Banda Medical College.”
Before departing for Banda, Afzal claimed to have called the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), but he was unable to get through to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was in Gorakhpur.
“Since Mukhtar was not provided proper treatment at the Banda Medical College”, Afzal stated he wished to ask the CMO to have Mukhtar admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Lucknow or any other superspeciality hospital.
Mukhtar’s son Umar claimed that although his and his uncle’s names were on the list of visitors, they were not permitted to meet him.
He said despite observing fast, he had traveled 900 km to see his father but to no avail. “I was not given a chance to even catch a glimpse of him,” he told India Tomorrow.
“Apart from politics, there is something called humanity, which is not there,” he alleged.
Who was Mukhtar Ansari
Mukhtar, who was born on June 30, 1963, was a prominent figure in eastern Uttar Pradesh politics.
His grandfather Mukhtar Ahmed Ansari, during the country’s freedom movement, had served as president of the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress (INC), the two most significant pre-independence political groups. He had served as chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia from 1928 to 1936 and was one of its founders.
Mukhtar’s maternal grandfather Mohammad Usman served as an Indian Army brigadier.
He had an impact on the districts of Mau, Ghazipur, Varanasi and Jaunpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh. He entered politics around 1995 when he was elected as the president of the Banaras Hindu University Students’ Union.
In 2005, Mukhtar Ansari, 62, a former five-term member of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly from the Mau Sardar constituency, was imprisoned in both Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. There are currently more than 60 criminal cases against him.
Since September 2022, he had been found guilty in eight cases by UP courts, which sentenced him to life imprisonment in two cases. He had been lodged in Banda jail since April 2021.
Mayawati described Mukhtar as a “messiah of the poor” when he along with his brother Afzal joined the BSP in 2007.
While incarcerated, he ran for Lok Sabha elections in 2009 from Varanasi on the BSP ticket. But he was defeated by the BJP’s Murli Manohar Joshi.
In 2010, the two brothers established the Quami Ekta Dal, their own political outfit, following their expulsion from the BSP.
In order to prevent the division of secular votes, Mukhtar withdrew from his declared intention to challenge Narendra Modi in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi.
Prior to the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, on January 26, 2016, he returned to the BSP and won the Mau assembly segment.
