Punjab asks UP to take Mukhtar Ansari’s custody before April 8

Amid the row over transferring of don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, the Punjab government has written to the Uttar Pradesh government to take his custody from the Rupnagar jail before April 8.

On the other hand, Mukhtar’s brother Afzal Ansari has expressed apprehension about the former's safety and said that his brother's security was now the responsibility of the judiciary and the Yogi Adityanath government.

The two states have been at loggerheads over handing over Mukhtar Ansari to UP and the matter was eventually sorted out after the Supreme Court set aside Punjab government’s plea to allow the don stay put at Ropar jail on medical grounds.

In a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Additional Chief Secretary (Home), the Home Department of Punjab asked for suitable arrangements to be made for the transfer of under-trial prisoner Mukhtar Ansari. "The handover of Mukhtar Ansari is to be made at district jail Rupnagar on/before April 8," the letter stated.

It also was stated in the letter that Mukhtar Ansari suffers from certain medical conditions and the same may be kept in mind while making arrangements for his transport from Rupnagar jail to Banda jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Afzal Ansari, who is Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur, told reporters that the safety of Mukhtar after he comes to the Uttar Pradesh jail is that of the judiciary and of the Yogi Adityanath government. He demanded the court should monitor the safety and medical facilities given to Mukhtar.

He also said that the safety of life of any citizen is the responsibility of the government. "This duty increases by twice when the prisoner is in judicial custody and by four times, when the state government files a petition in the Supreme Court saying that the hearing of the case is getting affected," the MP said.

Mukhtar Ansari is wanted in various cases in Uttar Pradesh and has been lodged in the Rupnagar district jail in Punjab since January 2019 in connection with an alleged extortion case.

He was on March 31 produced before the Mohali court in connection with the alleged 2019 extortion matter. Amid tight security arrangements, Ansari was taken into the court in a wheelchair. He was sent back to the Rupnagar jail in the ambulance after the appearance.

Amid a row over the issue, a Punjab police official had clarified that an inmate can be transported in a private ambulance on medical grounds and the cost of conveyance has to be borne by the prisoner.

According to the Punjab Prisoners (Attendance in Court) Rules, 1969, the police team can allow a private vehicle on the request of a prisoner, the official added. It was also clarified that the ambulance in which Mukhtar Ansari was taken to the court on March 31, was not a bullet proof vehicle.