After several claims and grievances raised by his family, a magisterial probe has been ordered into the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. A three-member team is expected to commence the investigation into his death shortly, an order by Chief Judicial Magistrate Banda states.

Officials said a panel of two doctors will do the post-mortem, which will be videographed. Mukhtar Ansari’s body will be handed over to his son, Umar Ansari, following the post-mortem.

Banda Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Bhagwan Das Gupta appointed Garima Singh, Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (MP-MLA Court Banda) as the investigating officer in the case. The CJM ordered that the probe report be submitted in a month.

Mukhtar Ansari died on Thursday, March 28 in a hospital in Banda, Uttar Pradesh. He was rushed to the hospital after he suffered a cardiac arrest. However, his family claimed that Ansari was being given ‘slow poison’ inside jail, which led to his demise.

While speaking to ANI, his son Umar Ansari said, “It (post-mortem) is their procedure. I have written a letter saying that it should be done by doctors at AIIMS Delhi. We don’t trust the medical system, government and administration here…You know why I am saying this…Panchnama is done. District Magistrate has to make a decision. Let’s see what he decides. The postmortem has not begun…”

“We hope that the court will help investigate the suspicions that we are expressing. We will consult our legal team. We are confident that this is not a natural death but an orchestrated murder,” he added.

Mukhtar Ansari was poisoned, claims family

Afzal Ansari, brother of Mukhtar Ansari and an MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, alleged that the gangster-turned-politician was given a slow poison in jail, due to which he died.

“Mukhtar said that he was given a poisonous substance in food in jail. This happened for the second time. Around 40 days ago also he was given poison. And recently, he was again given this (poison) due to which his condition is bad,” Afzal Ansari said.

Afzal also said that during a hearing on March 21 in the Barabanki court, Ansari’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. The politician was hospitalised on Tuesday for 14 hours, but was released after his condition was reported as stable.

(With inputs from agencies)