PUNJAB’S home department has asked the Uttar Pradesh Government to take custody of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari from the Rupnagar jail on April 8, with BSP MP Afzal Ansari on Sunday saying that his brother’s “safety” is now the responsibility of the judiciary and the Yogi Adityanath dispensation. Mukhtar Ansari, who is wanted in various cases in Uttar Pradesh, has been lodged in the Rupnagar district jail in Punjab since January 2019 in connection with an alleged extortion case.

 

In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home), the home department of Punjab asked for suitable arrangements to be made for the transfer of under-trial prisoner Mukhtar Ansari. “The said handover is to be made at district jail Rupnagar on/before April 8,” the letter stated. It also said that Mukhtar Ansari suffers from certain medical conditions and the same may be kept in mind while making arrangements for his transport from Rupnagar jail to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh. Afzal Ansari, who is the MP from Ghazipur, told PTI: “The safety of Mukhtar after he comes to the Uttar Pradesh jail is that of the judiciary and of the Yogi Adityanath Government.

 

The court should monitor the safety and medical facilities given to Mukhtar.” He also said that the safety of life of any citizen is the responsibility of the Government. “This duty increases by twice when the prisoner is in judicial custody and by four times, when State Government files a petition in SC,” the MP said.