Don-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari to be shifted from Lucknow jail

Lucknow: Gangster-turned-BSP MLA Mukhtar Ansari will be shifted out of Lucknow jail where he is lodged in connection with a number of criminal cases.

"Orders have been issued to shift him from Lucknow district jail to Banda district jail," ADG (Prisons) Gopal Lal Meena told PTI here on Wednesday.

Ansari was shifted to Lucknow District Jail last year after the announcement of the merger of his party the Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) and the then-ruling Samajwadi Party.

As the merger did not take off, Ansari joined BSP and was elected in the just-concluded Assembly elections from Mau seat.

Ansari today took oath as a new member of the state Assembly.

With the Yogi Adityanath government cracking the whip on criminals, Ansari is being shifted out from Lucknow.

He has been in jail since 2015 under various sections of the IPC.

While campaigning in Mau, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had indirectly targeted the gangster-turned-politician and said, "How come all the heavy-weights smile while going to jail? It's because they get all the facilities in jail. Things will change after March 11."