Who is gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and why is he in news?

Mukhtar Ansari is presently lodged in Punjab's Rupnagar jail in connection with an alleged extortion case.

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New Delhi: Mukhtar Ansari, a gangster-turned-politician, is a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA from Mau and is wanted in Uttar Pradesh for various cases. He is presently lodged in Punjab's Rupnagar jail since January 2019 in connection with an alleged extortion case.

However, Punjab's home department has now asked the Uttar Pradesh government to take custody of Ansari by April 8.

Mukhtar Ansari is allegedly involved in various cases of attempt to murder, murder, cheating and conspiracy apart from offences under the Gangsters Act. Ten of these cases notably are at different stages of the trial.

Ansari has been an MLA from Mau five times and is currently a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He has avoided as many as 26 warrants issued by a Prayagraj court on medical grounds, according to an affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court by the Uttar Pradesh government.

He was sent to judicial custody in Punjab in an extortion-threat case, but he did not apply for bail despite having been entitled to 'default bail' as the statutory 90-day period has lapsed. 

Ansari also opposed being shifted to Uttar Pradesh, where the state Police has registered 38 cases of heinous crime at a single police station in the Ghazipur district. 

The BSP leader has previously been lodged in several jails including Lucknow, Ghazipur, and Mau. 

Meanwhile, the UP Police has also lodged an FIR saying that fake documents were used to register the ambulance which ferried Ansari from the Rupnagar jail to Mohali court on March 31. The ambulance reportedly had the registration number of UP's Barabanki. The UP Police said that a special investigation team (SIT) has been set up to further probe into the issue of fake documents of the ambulance. An FIR in this regard has been registered by an additional road transport officer against Dr Alka Rai, whose name was given for the registration of the ambulance. 

(With inputs from agencies)