Jailed gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari hospitalised

Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been admitted to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Banda district after his health deteriorated, his brother and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari said on Tuesday.

He claimed that the district, jail and hospital authorities were not giving the family details of Mukhtar's health condition.

"We have got a message from Mohammadabad police station informing us that Mukhtar is ill and is being admitted to Medical College, Banda. Family members have been asked to come for his help," Afzal Ansari told PTI.

"Not only this, Mukhtar's lawyer is also not being allowed to meet him. Now only when the family members reach there anything will be known about his condition," he said.

Afzal Ansari said he had called the Chief Minister's Office before leaving for Banda but could not contact Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is in Gorakhpur.

He said the purpose of calling the Chief Minister's Office was to request that Mukhtar be admitted to the Medanta Hospital in Lucknow or any other big hospital if adequate arrangements are not made at Banda Medical College.

"If the government does not bear the cost of treatment, the family will bear this expense," he said.

Afzal Ansari claimed that during the virtual hearing of a case in a Barabanki court on March 21, Mukhtar's lawyer had filed an application in the court alleging that his client had been given "slow poison" in jail due to which his condition was deteriorating.

Mukhtar Ansari, who has served as MLA from Mau several times, has been sentenced in various cases and is currently lodged in Banda jail