On Friday (28th March), a day after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died due to his deteriorated health in jail, Former DSP Shailendra Singh released a statement slamming the then Samajwadi Party government for shielding Ansari. Singh was threatened and implicated in a false case by the Mulayam Singh government for recommending the arrest of mafia don turned politician Mukhtar Ansari under POTA. The recommendation was made Singh had recovered a light machine gun (LMG) from the premises of the dreaded gangster 20 years ago.

“20 years ago, in 2004, Mukhtar Ansari’s empire was at its peak. He would move around in open jeeps in areas where curfew was imposed. That time I recovered a Light Machine Gun, no recovery was made before or after that. I even imposed POTA on him…” he said adding that the then Samajwadi Party government was trying to save Ansari from getting arrested at any cost.

“But the Mulayam Government wanted to save him at any cost. He pressured officials, IG-Range, DIG, and SP-STF to be transferred, even though I was made to resign within 15 days. But in my resignation, I wrote my reasons and put it before the people that this is the government you chose, which is protecting and working on the orders of mafias… I wasn’t doing a favor to anyone. It was my duty,” he added.

It was earlier reported that Singh had been slapped with dozens of fake charges by the then Samajwadi Party government for acting against the now-deceased mafia don Mukhtar Ansari. Singh recollected how his career was ruined and the trauma his family had to face after the then-ruling Samajwadi Party government implicated him in false cases.

He claimed that the criminal case filed against him was nothing but an arm-twisting tactic of the then-ruling party to silence him. He told the media persons that it was because of the criminal case that his life was ruined. He could not procure a passport or an arms license, lamented the ex-cop.

The ex-cop stated that he still had more than two decades of police service left when he had to resign. He became emotional speaking about how his family had suffered while he was in jail and stated that CM Yogi had talked to his family back then and had promised that he would get the false charges against the officer dropped.

Accordingly, in the year 2021, the Yogi government withdrew a 17-year-old case against a former Deputy SP Sailendra Singh in Varanasi.

The 2004 machine gun case for which Shailendra Singh had to resign from the office of the UP Police

For the uninitiated, this is the same case for which Shailendra Singh had to resign as an officer of the UP Police in 2004.

In 2004, Shailendra Singh was in charge of the Varanasi unit of the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh. The DSP had raided the premises of Mukhtar Ansari in January 2004 and had recovered the banned LMG (light machine gun) just before the assassination of BJP MLA Krishnand Rai and six others. The DySP had then filed an FIR and slapped POTA on the mafia don.

The DSP had intercepted a phone conversation where Mukhtar Ansari was allegedly trying to procure an LMG from a fugitive soldier named Babu Lal Yadav. Shailendra Sigh had raided on the basis of information gathered and had recovered the LMG and 200 live cartridges. Babu Lal Yadav and his uncle Munar Yadav, who was working as Mukhtar Ansari’s gunner, were arrested on the spot.

Following this, the Mulayam Singh government, which was at the helm of affairs in Uttar Pradesh then, started mounting pressure on the ex-cop to withdraw the case or remove Mukhtar Ansari’s name from the POTA case. Sailendra Singh, however, refused to buckle down under pressure and resigned from his post as the DSP in February 2004.

A few months after his resignation, the then-SP government implicated the officer in fake cases and put him in jail. Fighting all odds, Singh came out on bail and joined the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh.

Sailendra Singh kept fighting against the establishment to prove his innocence until the BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath came to power in the state and filed an application in the court to withdraw cases against Shailendra Singh.

Soon after Yogi Adityanath came to power, the UP government filed a petition in the court to withdraw cases against Singh in December 2017.

On March 6, 2021, the court finally approved the state government’s plea to withdraw cases against the former DSP.

Mukhtar Ansari died on 28th March, 2024

Ansari died on Thursday, 28th March, after his health deteriorated in jail. Ansari was shifted to Banda Medical College Hospital in UP after he complained about pain in the abdomen. As per the hospital, Ansari died during treatment after suffering a heart attack.

He was admitted to the ICU after the hospitalization. However, as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to CCU. The hospital said that a team of 9 doctors were attending him. However, Mukhtar Ansari died during the treatment in hospital.

According to a bulletin issued by the Rani Durgavati Medical College, 63-year-old Ansari was brought to the hospital by jail authorities and admitted to the emergency department after he had complained of vomiting. He was unconscious when he arrived in the hospital. A team of 9 doctors were involved in his treatment. But despite all the efforts, Ansari passed away as a result of cardiac arrest, the bulletin said.



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