Afzal Ansari, BSP MP from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh and brother of former MLA Mukhtar Ansari, was today convicted under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act and sentenced to four years imprisonment for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping of Vishwa Hindu Parishad office-bearer Nandkishore Rungta in 1996 and also in the murder of Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Krishnanand Rai in 2005.
Additional Sessions Judge/First MP-MLA Court Durgesh further sentenced gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is currently lodged in Banda jail and appeared via video-conferencing, to 10 years imprisonment.
This is the first case in which Afzal has been convicted. As per the provisions in Article 102 r/w Section 8 (3)of the Representation of People Act 1951, he would now be disqualified as member of the Lok Sabha.
Mukhtar Ansari was also convicted and sentenced to five-year imprisonment under the Gangsters Act in another case. The court further imposed a fine of Rs five lakh on Mukhtar and Rs one lakh on Afzal.
A case was lodged against the Ansari brothers at Mohammadabad police station in Ghazipur district in 2007 over the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai and six others in Bhawarkol area of Ghazipur district in November 2005.
Following the directions of the Allahabad High Court, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated the case. In 2019, a special CBI court in Delhi acquitted Mukhtar, Afzal and five others in the murder case of the BJP leader.
Defence counsel for Ansari brothers, Liyakat Ali, said that he would file appeal against the convictions.