Mukhtar Ansari, the 60-year-old gangster-politician from Uttar Pradesh who died of a heart attack on Thursday night, was buried at his native place, Ghazipur, at around 10:45 am today amid tight security.
People gathered in large numbers to take part in the funeral procession of Ansari, who was a former five-time MLA. Some of his supporters broke the barricades to enter the burial ground, leading to a brief confrontation with the police.
Mukhtar Ansari was buried in a family graveyard in Ghazipur. Thousands of people gathered at the burial ground, and the funeral was led by his son, Umar Ansari, and other family members.
His body was brought to Ghazipur early on Saturday morning after a postmortem at a hospital in Banda, where he had been jailed.
The post-mortem on Ansari confirmed that he died of cardiac arrest, according to hospital sources who spoke to news agency PTI. The entire autopsy procedure was videographed.
Security arrangements have been tightened in Ghazipur and surrounding districts, including Mau, where he served as an MLA for five terms.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate in Banda issued judicial probe orders into Ansari's death as his family alleged that he was given slow poison inside the jail. A three-member team will conduct the magisterial investigation.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav demanded a probe supervised by a Supreme Court judge. He said death of a prisoner after falling ill inside the jail "will erode public confidence in the judicial process.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed across Uttar Pradesh and teams of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) along with the local police have been deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi.
The 60-year-old Ansari was hospitalised in "an unconscious state" on Thursday evening from Banda jail, and the hospital announced that he died due to cardiac arrest.
Ansari’s son, Umar Ansari, said his father was subjected to slow poisoning inside the Banda jail and demanded a high-level inquiry. He said the family will go to court. His allegations were denied by the authorities.
The opposition parties demanded a CBI probe or an enquiry that involves the higher judiciary. The BJP slammed them saying they have the habit of emotionally exploiting every issue to spoil communal harmony.
