Mukhtar Ansari’s crime clout shrank as aides fell one by one

LUCKNOW Gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s crime network weakened after the killings of his four close aides, including Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi, Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, Merajuddin and Mukeem Kala, over the past few years, said police officials.

It all started with the sensational killing of Munna Bajrangi, 51, when he was shot dead by another murder convict, gangster Sunil Rathi, inside the Baghpat jail on July 9, 2018. Rathi, who was serving a life term in Baghpat jail, later confessed to killing Bajrangi, but it remained a mystery how the firearm reached Rathi inside the jail.

Bajrangi was the person, who allegedly led a team of seven shooters, including Jeeva, in the killing of the then sitting BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai on November 29, 2005. Rai’s motorcade was attacked by a group of killers equipped with high-end weapons like AK-47 assault rifle. They opened indiscriminate fire near Bhawarkol locality under Ghazipur’s Mahmoodabad assembly constituency when he was going to inaugurate a local cricket tournament.

Rai, along with his six accomplices, was killed after sustaining over 50 bullet wounds all over his body.

On the same pattern, Mukhtar Ansari’s two other associates - Merajuddin and Mukeem Kala - were sprayed with bullets by another jailed gangster Anshu Dixit in a shootout inside Chitrakoot jail on May 14, 2021. Dixit, who used a semi-automatic pistol, was later gunned down by the police in their attempt to overpower him.

Merajuddin was Ansari’s close associate while Mukeem Kala was the west UP criminal under his patronage.

Thereafter, Ansari’s another aide Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, 48, was shot dead by hired shooter Vijay Yadav when he was being produced before a court in Lucknow on June 7, 2023. The police claimed Jeeva was gunned down in a gang rivalry with another elusive Mafioso Badan Singh alias Baddo.

Jeeva was among seven contract killers, who allegedly killed Krishna Nand Rai.