March 2024 – Page 68 – Safir News Agency

"My Father Was Being Given Slow Poison": Mukhtar Ansari's Son

admin Mar 29, 2024 0

Jailed gangster-turned-politician, Mukhtar Ansari died due to cardiac arrest on Thursday.

Banda, UP:

After the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari due to cardiac arrest, Umar Ansari, son of Mukhtar Ansari, claimed that his father was given poison in the food and said they would move to the judiciary. “We have full faith in it,” he added.

“I was not told anything from the administration side, I came to know about it through the media… But now the whole nation knows everything… Two days ago I came to meet him, but I was not allowed… We said earlier also and even today we will say the same about the allegation of giving slow poison. On March 19, he was poisoned in the dinner. We will move to the judiciary, we have full faith in it…” Umar Ansari, son of Mukhtar Ansari, said.

“Post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow, after that, they will give us the body. We will then follow with the further process (cremation)… My father alleged being given a slow poison… Around five doctors panel has been made (for carrying out the post-mortem),” Umar Ansari added.

Meanwhile, the body of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari has been sent for post-mortem at Banda Medical College Hospital, Banda.

After the death of the five time MLA, several political leaders extended their condolences. On Thursday, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi expressed his grief in support of the family of Mukhtar Ansari.

“I pray to Allah to forgive Mukhtar Ansari and give patience to his family and his loved ones. The people of Ghazipur lost their favourite son and brother. Mukhtar Saheb had made serious allegations against the administration that he had been poisoned. Despite this, the government did not pay any attention to his treatment. Condemnable and regrettable,” AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi posted on X.

Samajwadi Party leader Ameeque Jamei demanded a thorough investigation of Mukhtar Ansari’s death.

“We stand with the family of Mukhtar Ansari… Recently he said that he can be murdered anytime… Why he was not given a proper medical facility…We will demand a thorough investigation of the incident…”

Congress leader Surendra Rajput also questioned the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari due to cardiac arrest.
“Today Mukhtar Ansari’s death in the jail raises a big question BJP-led UP Government…This should be investigated thoroughly so that everyone gets to know what is going on…” said Congress leader Surendra Rajput.

The dreaded gangster was brought to the hospital around 8:25 PM, according to the official release from the hospital. A team of nine doctors attended to him before he died, the release added.

Expressing condolences over the death of Mukhtar Ansari, the Samajwadi Party shared a post on Twitter that read, “Sad demise of former MLA Shri Mukhtar Ansari. May his soul rest in peace. May the bereaved family members get the strength to bear this immense sorrow. Humble tribute !”.

On Tuesday, he was admitted to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda after he complained of abdominal pain. He was then shifted to Uttar Pradesh’s Rani Durgawati Medical College after his discharge on Tuesday.

Ansari was elected as an MLA from the Mau assembly seat five times, including twice as a Bahujan Samaj Party candidate. He had a strong influence in Ghazipur, his hometown.

In April 2023, Mukhtar Ansari was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for the murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai by an MP MLA court. He was sentenced to life in prison on March 13, 2024, in a case related to the use of forged documents for obtaining an arms licence in 1990.

Before this, in December 2023, the MP/MLA Court of Varanasi had found Mukhtar Ansari guilty of threatening Mahavir Prasad Rungta, a witness in the murder of 26-year-old coal businessman Nand Kishor Rungta, and had sentenced him to five and a half years of rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs 10,000 against him.

On October 15, last year, the Enforcement Directorate attached lands, a building and bank deposits worth more than Rs 73.43 lakh as part of the money laundering investigation against Mukhtar Ansari.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Caught Up In Concert Shooting, A Russian Woman Said Goodbye To World

admin Mar 29, 2024 0

Caught Up In Concert Shooting, A Russian Woman Said Goodbye To World

Returning home, Alyona Kazinskaya says she just “hugged everyone”.

Moscow:

Russian artist Alyona Kazinskaya likes to fill her social media feed with cheerful messages and vivid floral paintings. For 30 minutes last Friday night, it turned into a timeline of terror.

Kazinskaya and a friend had bought last-minute tickets to see Soviet-era rock group “Picnic” perform in front of 6,200 people at a concert hall near Moscow. They thought about taking their daughters but decided to go by themselves.

It was at 8:01 p.m. that Kazinskaya posted a first 10-second audio message on her Telegram channel, sounding breathless and frightened as loud bursts of gunfire rang out.

“I love you all. I’m in Crocus City Hall – Picnic. They’re shooting here, at the concert. I’m in the hall. Call the police.”

As four Kalashnikov-toting gunmen rampaged through the building, spraying concertgoers with bullets, Kazinskaya found herself caught up in the deadliest attack on Russia for 20 years.

As of Thursday, 143 people were confirmed killed in the massacre, which has been claimed by Islamic State militants but which Russia is attempting – despite emphatic denials from Kyiv – to link to Ukraine.

In an interview with Reuters, Kazinskaya said she understood quickly that the sounds she was hearing were gunshots, not special effects. With her friend, she tried to get the people around them to leave their seats and run.

“We tried to get people up, we got them up, but people had already run to the exit and we couldn’t get through. At that moment they (the gunmen) entered the hall. Then I threw my friend to the floor and I said ‘let’s crawl’.”

SCRAMBLED MESSAGES

Her first thought, Kazinskaya said, was to get out of the hall, at any price. “My second thought was I’m wearing white, I’m a good target.”

She paused briefly, and laughed.

“And finally, the third thought was I’m going to write something now – yes I’m frightened but I’m going to put these messages in my (Telegram) channel because that way someone, somewhere will definitely hear them, find them and call someone.”

At 8:08 p.m. she wrote three messages in quick succession, scrambling the letters as her fingers trembled on the phone.

“Please ring the police!!!!!”

“Crocus City Hall”

“Shooting”

By now, the pair of them had escaped the hall but was still trapped inside the building. The shooting stopped, but now there was another hazard.

8:17 p.m. A one-word audio message. “Fire!”

The gunmen had used gasoline to set the huge concert hall ablaze. The two friends took refuge in a toilet. There was smoke everywhere. They tried half a dozen times to get out, but they couldn’t see anything and had to keep retreating.

Kazinskaya was losing hope.

At 8:23 p.m. she left a four-second audio message she thought would be the last one.

“I love you. Goodbye.”

Disorientated, the pair of them found themselves in another toilet where more people were hiding. There was a man there who said he thought he could find a way out. They followed him and managed to escape the building – but even then, Kazinskaya did not feel safe.

“I had only two thoughts. First, I need first aid because I can’t breathe. I had burning to my lungs, and an asthma attack. And the second thought was I have to get as far away from the building as I can.”

At 8:31 p.m. she left a new audio message. “I’m alive. I’m getting first aid. I got out. Thank you.”

Returning home, Kazinskaya says she just “hugged everyone”. Now, she says, it will be a long time before she goes to clubs or big concerts again. But she draws comfort from the amount of support she has received.

“I think society itself needs to be kinder,” she said. “Because we remember we’re human when something bad happens, but we need to be human every day.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)