The last rites of Mukhtar Ansari, whose name was synonymous with organised violence in Uttar Pradesh for close to five decades, were carried out largely peacefully on Saturday at his family’s ancestral graveyard in Mohammadabad in Ghazipur district in Uttar Pradesh, amid heavy security and in the presence of thousands of mourners, two days after the gangster-turned-politician died from a cardiac arrest.

Ansari, 60, was buried at Kal Bagh Kabristan, next to his parents. His last rites were performed in the presence of his younger son Umar Ansari, his brothers Afzal Ansari, who is the Bahujan Samaj Party MP for Ghazipur, and former Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Sibgatullah Ansari, and nephew and Mohammadabad MLA from SP Suhaib Ansari. His older son, Abbas Ansari, was not able to attend the funeral because he could not secure parole on account of Good Friday. Abbas is in Kasganj district jail, where he has been lodged since August 2022 in a money laundering case filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Former ministers and SP leader Ambika Chaudhary was in attendance at the funeral. SP leader Omprakash Singh and party MLAs visited the Ansari’s residence to express condolence.

The final rites of Ansari passed off without any major law-and-order issues despite thousands of people participating in the procession that carried his body to the graveyard on Saturday, with only a few small skirmishes reported, including some sloganeering.

According to reports, more than 100,000 people were present.

In preparation, the administration deployed two additional superintendents (SPs), 25 deputy SPs, 21 subdivisional magistrates, 150 inspectors, around 50 plainclothes personnel and several local intelligence unit personnel across Mohammadabad, including in the immediate vicinity of the graveyard, said a senior official.

Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC that had been imposed in sensitive districts after Ansari’s death remained in place.

The security arrangements were supervised by Ghazipur district magistrate (DM) Ayarka Akhauri and superintendent of police Omveer Singh, who were both present in the town. They requested people to follow the model code of conduct in force ahead of the Lok Sabha elections which begin with the first phase on April 19.

“We appealed to the people to follow the model code of conduct,” the DM said.

Shealso said legal action will be taken against those who were seen sloganeering in violation of the model code of conduct based on video footage.

SP Singh confirmed that videography had been carried out of those who had created a ruckus. They will be identified and action will be taken against them, he added.

There were also reports of an altercation between the district magistrate, who is also the district returning officer for the period of the elections, and Afzal after former objected to the participation of outsiders in the final rituals.

According to a video circulating on social media, PTI reported, the DM questioned if permission had been sought for the participation of non-family members and cited the prohibitory orders imposed in the district. “You cannot stop anyone from participating in a burial despite the imposition of CrPC section 144,” PTI quoted Afzal as saying. The DM warned him of legal action.

Ansari for decades was regarded as one of eastern UP’s most dreaded gangsters, in a reign that involved deadly rivalries with other gangster-politicians, some of whom he and his associates have been accused or convicted of assassinating.

He was lodged in different prisons in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh since 2005, when he was first arrested for inciting violence. His political career saw him represent the Mau Vidhan Sabha seat for five terms.

Ansari was accused in 63 criminal cases, including 14 of murder, and was convicted and sentenced in eight of these since September 2022. Among the most high profile of these cases were the murders of then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005 and of Awadesh Rai (brother of current UP Congress president Ajay Rai) in 1991. The Rais (who were unrelated) and Ansari and his brothers were widely regarded as the many “bahubali” politicians of eastern UP, drawing on the Hindi word for a strongman.

Ansari died late on Thursday evening after a cardiac arrest. He was brought to the Rani Durgawati Medical College from Banda prison, where he had been lodged,shortly before he was declared dead.

His body was taken to his ancestral residence in Yusufpur, Ghazipur, where it reached at around 1.15am on Saturday after post-mortem examination in Banda — which confirmed the cause of his death was a heart attack, ruling out suspected poisoning.

His brother Afzal Ansari said, “The body was kept (at the house) for people to pay their last respects.”

The funeral procession began around 9am and stopped at Prince Hall ground for namaz-e-janaza (funeral prayer). The body was then taken to the graveyard.

Police did not give permission to anyone but family and close relatives of Ansari to take part in his final rituals.