Jeeva’s killing will shatter Mukhtar Ansari’s criminal network, says former police officer
Jeeva became the closest aide of Ansari, who was operating his business despite being in jail during these years, says former police officer
Gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari alias Jeeva, 48, entered the crime world with a murder and loot case against him in 1995 but gained notoriety when his involvement surfaced in the sensational killing of BJP MLA Brahmdutt Dwivedi in Farrukhabad in January 1997.
“He came in contact with mafioso-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari’s gang after Dwivedi’s murder and gradually became his (Mukhtar Ansari) right-hand man after he, along with another gangster Prem Prakash Singh alias Munna Bajrangi and some others, allegedly executed the sensational killing of another BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai at Ansari’s behest (in November 2005),” said former deputy superintendent of police Shailendra Singh.
“Jeeva’s killing would have shattered Ansari’s network among different criminal gangs across different states,” said Singh, who was forced to take voluntarily retirement in February 2004 allegedly for taking action against Mukhtar Ansari and his gang members.
“Jeeva was arrested and remained in jail for some years where he gradually met Ansari’s then close associate Munna Bajrangi, who was also shot dead inside Baghpat jail on July 9, 2018, almost in the same manner,” said Singh.
Singh said Ansari discovered Jeeva’s utility in multiple ways as he was a daring hitman trained in using every type of weapon.
“Mukhtar Ansari did not have links with criminals of west UP before Jeeva, who was a gangster from Muzaffarnagar district. Moreover, Jeeva had links with Punjab gangsters through whom Ansari and his gang procured sophisticated and foreign-make weapons. Before Jeeva, Ansari and his men used to struggle to procure such weapons,” he added.
The former DSP, who was then in-charge of Varanasi unit of UP special task force, said the STF was vigilant about gangs of Mukhtar Ansari and Krishnanand Rai, after a shootout between them in Lucknow in 2003. Thereafter, some suspicious mobile phone numbers were put on electronic surveillance, he added.
He also said a suspicious conversation about a deal providing a light machine gun (LMG) for ₹1 crore was intercepted. On the basis of the call, Singh claimed that Ansari was dealing with an army deserter to add an LMG to his armoury.
He claimed he and his team arrested two people from Varanasi’s Chaubepur and recovered the LMG and cartridges on January 25, 2004, after which a POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act) case was filed against Ansari and his henchmen. He said the investigation revealed that the mobile number, on which the LMG deal was carried out, was issued in the name of Ansari’s henchman.
Singh further said Jeeva apparently arranged weapons, including AK-47 like assault rifles and other semi-automatic weapons for Ansari’s gang and the same were eventually used in the killing of Krishnanand Rai and his seven associates in the Mohammadabad area of Ghazipur district on November 29, 2005. He said Ansari, along with Munna Bajrangi and Jeeva, was named accused in the FIR registered in the matter. On April 29, a court in Ghazipur sentenced Ansari to 10 years in prison and his brother Afzal Ansari to a four-year jail term in a 2007 case registered under the Gangsters Act following the killing of Krishnanand Rai.
Singh claimed Ansari also ventured into the smuggling of drugs with help of Punjab gangsters through Jeeva and reportedly earned huge wealth.
“Jeeva became the closest aide of Ansari, who was operating his business despite being in jail during these years, after proving his utility,” he said.
