Mukhtar Ansari died of a cardiac arrest on Thursday night and his body was brought to his hometown of Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh around midnight on Friday after completion of post-mortem at the Banda Medical College and Hospital in Banda district.

Mukhtar Ansari Funeral: Chaos erupted at the funeral of Mukhtar Ansari Friday as thousands of supporters of the deceased gangster-politician turned up for his last rites at the Kalibagh cemetery in his native Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh,

Ansari’s supporters, who turned up for the funeral in massive numbers, tore down barricades and stormed the cemetery grounds to pay their last respects to the deceased gangster even as security personnel deployed at the site asked them to proceed in an orderly fashion and maintain calm.

#WATCH | Ghazipur, UP: Chaos erupted during the burial rites of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari after his supporters broke the barricading in order to enter the cemetery ground. pic.twitter.com/EgDOkcBPU2

— ANI (@ANI) March 30, 2024

Visuals shared on social media platforms showed some supporters arguing with police officials.

Large crowd in Mukhtar Ansari’s funeral

According to reports, hundreds of thousands of people accompanied the ‘Janaza (funeral procession)’ of Mukhtar Ansari and took part in the funeral prayers of Mukhtar Ansari who was laid to rest at his ancestral burial ground at the Kalibagh cemetery in Ghazipur.

District authorities had imposed restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC and deployed police and paramilitary forces at strength across Ansari’s native Ghazipur in order to prevent any law and order situation.

On Saturday morning, Ansari’s body was brought to the family’s ancestral burial ground, about half a km from their residence, where a grave was dug on Friday. Officials said elaborate security arrangements were made outside Ansari’s residence and the burial ground.

Mukhtar Ansari died of a cardiac arrest on Thursday night and his body was brought to his hometown around midnight on Friday after completion of post-mortem at the Banda Medical College and Hospital in Banda district.

The last rites of the gangster-turned-politician were performed at his Ghazipur home and later the body was taken to the Kali Bagh burial ground in a funeral procession led by family members, including his son Umar Ansari and brother Afzal Ansari.

A massive crowd accompanied the funeral procession amid loud sloganeering in favour of Ansari.

Ansari family cooperating: DIG

Police faced a tough time in managing the crowd who tried to force their way into the burial ground where entry was restricted. Security personnel, including that of the paramilitary, were deployed at strength around the Ansari residence and the burial ground, said a senior official.

“The Ansari family is cooperating with the police. People have been coming since Friday night and announcements were being made to ensure that there is no overcrowding at any point,”  DIG of Varanasi Range O P Singh said, adding that adequate police force was deployed everywhere.

In a post on X on Friday, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and Mukhtar Ansari’s nephew Suhaib Ansari said,

“My uncle Mukhtar Ansari passed away last night. Tomorrow, at 10 am, he will be buried in our Kali Bagh graveyard of Yusufpur Mohammadabad (Ghazipur). All of you are requested to pray for the forgiveness of the deceased.”

Mukhtar Ansari death

Mukhtar Ansari, who was lodged in UP’s Banda district jail, died of a cardiac arrest on Thursday night amid allegations of “slow poisoning” levelled by his family members, including his son, Mau MLA Afzal Ansari.

As per an official release, Mukhtar Ansari was brought to the Banda medical college at around 8.25 PM on Thursday in an unconscious state after he had complained of vomiting. A team of nine doctors attended to him but he died of cardiac arrest, it stated.

Earlier, Ansari was hospitalised for around 14 hours on Tuesday after he complained of abdominal pain.

Ansari died of cardiac arrest: Post-mortem report

Meanwhile, the post-mortem report of Mukhtar Ansari was released by the Banda Medical College, confirming preliminary reports that the mafia-politician died of a “myocardial infarction” or heart attack, in simple terms.

(With inputs from agencies)