Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari sent to 7 years in jail for threatening jailer

Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Wednesday sentenced former MLA Mukhtar Ansari to seven years in prison for threatening a jailer and pointing a pistol at him. Justice DK Singh passed the order while allowing an appeal by the Uttar Pradesh government. The court found him guilty under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Ansari was also fined Rs 37,000. The former MLA was sentenced to two years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 10,000 for offences under Section 353 and two years and a fine of Rs 2,000 for offences under Section 504. The court also sentenced Ansari to seven years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 for offences under Section 506.

The case dates to 2003 when Lucknow district prison jailer SK Awasthi lodged an FIR with Alambagh police alleging that he was threatened for ordering a search of the people who came to meet Ansari. Awasthi also alleged that Ansari had pointed a pistol at him while abusing him. A trial court had acquitted Ansari in the case but the government filed an appeal.