Ghazipur: Mafia-turned-politician and former MLA Mukhtar Ansari was laid to rest at his ancestral graveyard Kali Bagh in Yusufpur Mohammadabad area of Ghazipur district here in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.
Family sources said that Mukhtar was buried next to the grave of his mother amid tight security arrangements being supervised by the senior officers at the local as well as state level. As a precautionary measure heavy force was deployed around Mukhtar's house and the graveyard.
Sources said that though a limited number of people were allowed to attend the last rites, a huge crowd of supporters along with political leaders attend the funeral procession. "Thousands of people participated in Mukhtar's Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayers) at a ground near the graveyard," they said.
Police sources said that though only a few people, including the close family members, relatives and political leaders, were allowed inside the burial ground, a huge crowd of Mukhtar's supporters gathered outside the graveyard insisting on having a last glimpse of the former MLA. "Though Mukhtar's brother Afzal Ansari and other family members repeatedly appealed for the people to maintain order, the police also faced problems in controlling the mob," they said.
While the funeral was not attended by Mukhtar's wife Afsa Begum, who is absconding and his son Abbas, who is lodged in jail, presence of Osama, son of Bihar's former mafia Shahabuddin, in Mukhtar's last farewell triggered buzz in political circles. (with Agency inputs)
