Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 29 : Ex-Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP), OP Singh, said on Friday the allegations that Mukhtar Ansari was being "poisoned" to death are "absolutely baseless" and the "situation will become clear" after the post-mortem.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "Various kinds of rumours are being spread in the state, and a high alert has been issued. Police and administration are absolutely alert, especially in areas like Ghazipur, Mau, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, and Varanasi.
"Police are patrolling the streets and telling people to maintain peace and not spread rumours... When Mukhtar Ansari was lodged in Punjab jail, he had submitted many such applications on medical grounds so that he would not have to appear in UP courts. He has not always been healthy and has been ill for a long ," he added.
He said that Mukhtar Ansari was a criminal and his death should not be thought of extensively.
"Accusing that he was being poisoned is absolutely a baseless allegation. The situation will become absolutely clear after a postmortem is done... Mukhtar Ansari was a criminal, a don, and a mafia, and his death should not be thought of extensively...," Singh added.
Umar Ansari, son of Mukhtar Ansari, claimed that his father was given poison in the food and said they would move to the judiciary.
"We have full faith in it," he added."I was not told anything from the administration side, I came to know about it through the media... But now the whole nation knows everything... Two days ago I came to meet him, but I was not allowed... We said earlier also and even today we will say the same about the allegation of giving slow poison. On March 19, he was poisoned in the dinner. We will move to the judiciary, we have full faith in it..."he said
Meanwhile, the body of Mukhtar Ansari has been sent for post-mortem at Banda Medical College Hospital, Banda.
Ansari was brought to the hospital around 8:25 PM, according to the official release from the hospital. A team of nine doctors attended to him before he died, the release added.
Ansari was elected as an MLA from the Mau assembly seat five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. He had a strong influence in Ghazipur, his hometown.
In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP MLA court. He was sentenced to life in prison on March 13, 2024, in a case related to the use of forged documents for obtaining an arms licence in 1990.