Jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday by a local court in Uttar Pradesh and fined INR 100,000 ($1,200) for the murder of Congress politician Awadhesh Rai. This is the fifth conviction against Ansari in the 61 criminal cases filed against him, including grabbing, murder and extortion.
Ansari was elected a lawmaker in Uttar Pradesh five times in 1996, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017. Earlier in April, he was handed a 10-year jail term in another kidnapping and murder case.
Awadhesh Rai, the brother of Congress leader Ajay Rai, was shot dead on 3 August 1991, in front of his home in the Lahurabir area of Uttar Pradesh's city, Varanasi.
Reacting to the news of Ansari's imprisonment, Awadhesh Rai's brother Ajay told reporters: "This is the end of our many years of waiting. I, my parents, Awadhesh's daughter and the whole family kept patience...But we did not give up. Because of our lawyers' efforts, today the court has found Mukhtar Ansari guilty of the murder of my brother."
Ansari is also accused of the assassination of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Uttar Pradesh lawmaker Krishnanand Rai with an AK-47 rifle in November 2005. Reportedly, 400 bullet shells were recovered from the spot and 21 bullets were found in Rai's body.