Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died on Thursday night at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda. The gangster’s family has accused the authorities of administering “slow poison” to him. The district authorities have denied the charges and said that he died of cardiac arrest.

Mukhtar Ansari, a murder convict, was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College in Banda from jail in an “unconscious state”. A five-time MLA from Mau Sadar, Mukhtar Ansari had 60 criminal cases pending against him. He had been in jail since 2005.

Here are 10 points on Mukhtar Ansari‘s death:

1. The Uttar Pradesh administration has issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which bars large gatherings across the state. Additional security personnel have been deployed in Banda, Mau, Ghazipur and Varanasi. The UP police said on Thursday that the social media cell of the Uttar Pradesh Police has also been activated to keep a close watch on unlawful elements online.
2. Ghazipur SP Omveer Singh said the model code of conduct is in force. He said people will not be allowed to congregate.
3. The Mau police said: “Section 144 CrPC is already in place. Appeal is being made to everyone to maintain peace and not take note of any rumours that are being spread through social media. Since Jumma Namaz will be offered today, an adequate Police force is being deployed at all sensitive areas across the district. The situation is peaceful, there is no problem.”
4. Mukhtar Ansari’s son Umar Ansari claimed his father had told him that he was being given “slow poison”. “My father had told us he was being subjected to ‘slow poison’. Mukhtar Ansari had informed the court through his lawyers in writing that these things are happening,” he claimed.
5. Sibgatullah Ansari, Mukhtar Ansari’s elder brother, claimed he didn’t get proper medical treatment. “He had been very unwell since 18th March and he was not being given any treatment despite raising an alarm again and again. On 25-26 March night, he was in a very bad condition, so he was brought to medical college for a few hours as a formality. He was sent back and it was said that he is stable. He was not given any treatment,” he claimed.
6. Meanwhile, Alka Rai, the wife of Krishnanand Rai who was murdered at the behest of Mukhtar Ansari, offered prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi. “What can I say? This is the blessing of the Almighty. I used to pray to him for justice and justice has been served today. We never celebrated Holi after the incident (the murder), I felt that today is Holi for us.”
7. Deepak Sharma, the lawyer of Mukhtar Ansari in Krishnanand Rai murder case, claimed his lawyers had submitted an application claiming he was being given slow poison.”The media and the government say he died of cardiac arrest but we cannot say anything unless we receive the postmortem report, because prima facie, heart attack does not seem like the actual reason for the death… Two days ago, his lawyers submitted an application with serious allegations against the administration that he was being slowly poisoned… We just have to see if the investigation is carried out honestly,” he added.
8. Samajwadi Party chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav attacked the UP government over his death. “A government that cannot protect life has no right to remain in power. Uttar Pradesh is going through the worst phase of ‘government anarchy’. This is the ‘zero hour’ of law and order in UP,” he claimed.
9. BSP president Mayawati demanded a high-level inquiry into the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari. “The persistent apprehensions and serious allegations made by Mukhtar Ansari’s family regarding his death in jail require a high -level investigation so that the true facts of his death can be revealed,” she added.
10. BJP leader Hari Sahani said the gangster died due to disease. “Due to disease, his death occurred…Now what’s the point of presenting it in a big way..In Bihar, a priest was murdered brutally, but they didn’t find it plausible to raise voices for him, however, several cases were registered against that person (deceased Mukhtar Ansari) and today he died due to cardiac arrest, now they have so much pain for him,” he said.

With inputs from ANI, PTI