Mukhtar Ansari's bail plea in ambulance case rejected

The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench on Friday rejected the bail plea of gangster-turned politician Mukhtar Ansari in a case of alleged fraud in the registration of an ambulance used to ferry him to a Punjab court last year.

During his jail time in Punjab, Ansari was on March 31 last year taken to the Mohali court from Ropar jail in an ambulance having its number registered in Barabanki. A case was registered on April 2 that year in Barabanki after finding that the documents used for registration of the ambulance were fake.

Rejecting the bail plea, Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh said, "The long criminal history of Mukhtar (Ansari) with most heinous offences and considering that the ambulance was allegedly being used to carry his men armed with illegal and sophisticated weapons for his protection, this court finds that there is no ground to enlarge him on bail."

"Mukhtar commands in-parallel fear in the minds and hearts of the people that no one dares to challenge him and his men and his politics and hence if he is enlarged on bail, the apprehension of the prosecution that he would tamper with the evidence and influence the witnesses, cannot be ruled out," the judge said.

Ansari faces trial in Uttar Pradesh in several cases, including attempt to murder and murder. His transfer from Punjab was ordered by the Supreme Court after the Uttar Pradesh government approached it, seeking his custody from Punjab. But days before being transferred to Uttar Pradesh, he was produced before the Mohali court in connection with an alleged 2019 extortion matter. He was ferried to the court in the ambulance in question. The ambulance was later found registered in the name of a doctor named Alka Rai, and subsequently a case was lodged against her too.