Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari brought to UP's Banda jail

The Uttar Pradesh Police on Wednesday morning brought gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari to Banda prison from Punjab's Rupnagar jail.

On Tuesday, police had taken custody of the BSP legislator acting on a March 26 Supreme Court order, which directed Ansari's transfer to the Uttar Pradesh prison to face trials.

According to UP Police, around 52 cases are registered against Ansari in Uttar Pradesh and other states. He has spent over two years in Punjab prison.

His wife Afshan Ansari, fearing for her husband's life, had approached the top court on Tuesday, seeking a direction to the UP Police to "not kill" her husband in a fake encounter and allow him to face a "free and fair trial."

Earlier in February, the UP government accused the Punjab government in the Supreme Court, alleging that the latter (Punjab) was colluding with Ansari who is wanted in UP in relation to various criminal cases. The Uttar Pradesh government had argued that Ansari is being "vociferously defended by the state of Punjab" and that he is enjoying in the Punjab jail.

On his part, Ansari has apprehended a threat to his life in Uttar Pradesh and sought to appear in cases through video conferencing only.

The top court had dismissed the plea of Ansari seeking transfer of cases pending against him in Uttar Pradesh to Delhi.

Ansari, the MLA from Mau, has been lodged in a Ropar jail in Punjab since January 2019 where he was named in an extortion case. Several production warrants were issued against Ansari but Punjab Police did not allow him to be shifted to Uttar Pradesh on the grounds of ill health.