Mukhtar Ansari died of heart attack, not poisoning: Report

Gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari died in prison due to heart attack and not because of slow poisoning, said a report by the District Magistrate (DM) of Uttar Pradesh's Banda district on Monday.

The report, corroborating the findings of post-mortem report, has been submitted to the state administration.

Mukhtar Ansari, who was imprisoned in Banda jail died on March 28 this year at the Rani Durgavati Medical College. His death was attributed to a heart attack in the post-mortem report but his family accused the jail authorities of "killing" him by slow poisoning.

Following protests by the family, the state government had announced a magisterial probe into his death.

ADM Rajesh Kumar, under whose charge the magisterial enquiry was conducted, told scribes that Ansari's family men were summoned multiple times for their statements regarding their allegations but they never turned up.

Mukhtar Ansari, a five-time MLA from Mau Sadar seat was in Punjab jail since 2005, before being moved to Uttar Pradesh. He had over 60 criminal cases pending against him. He was sentenced in at least eight cases since September 2022 by different courts and was lodged in the Banda jail, where he died this March.

Ansari's son Umar Ansari cried foul over his death and claimed that his father was subjected to "slow poisoning" in prison and demanded his autopsy by AIIMS doctors in Delhi, as well as a magistral probe into his death.

The post-mortem, conducted by a panel of doctors at the Rani Durgawati Medical College, had found heart attack as the reason behind his death. Ansari's family was also present when the autopsy was conducted and the entire process was video recorded.

As the accusations of "slow poisoning" continued from family and political leaders, keeping the matter on the boil, a magisterial probe was ordered.

With Monday's magisterial enquiry report re-affirming heart attack as the reason, the controversy over Ansari's death is likely to die down.