Barabanki: Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari on Thursday told a court in Barabanki district in Uttar Pradesh that his health has deteriorated after he was served food allegedly laced with poison inside the prison.
Citing ill health, Ansari did not appear in the district MP/MLA court in connection with a case of alleged fraud in the registration of an ambulance used to ferry him from jail to a court in Punjab a few years ago.
In an application filed through his lawyer Randhir Singh Suman, he said, “…on the night of March 19, my food was laced with poisonous substance, following which my health has deteriorated…. I feel like I’m going to choke.”
The lawyer said Ansari’s health was “completely fine” before this incident and therefore, he has requested the court to form a team of doctors for his proper treatment.
Ansari alleged he was also given food laced with poison 40 days ago.
Suman said that during the hearing on Thursday, Ansari did not appear in the virtual hearing from the Banda jail and its deputy jailor Mahendra Singh appeared before the court and confirmed that Ansari was ill.
The court has set March 29 as the next date of hearing in the matter.
The case against Ansari and his 12 associates was registered in March 2022.
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