Lucknow, (Asian independent) Two barracks in the Banda jail have been converted into an isolation cell for mafia don and Bahujan Samaj Party MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who will be lodged here after he is brought back to Uttar Pradesh from Punjab.
The barrack will have a three-layer security, said the police. The outer security ring will be manned by two teams of civil police, each led by a sub-inspector and 10 armed constables.
The second security ring will comprise special CCTVs that have been installed at the entry points and a team of five jail officials which will keep an eye on the CCTV footage round-the-clock.
The third and innermost ring will comprise a team of jail warders.
The 100-member police team that is in Ropar, is likely to return with the mafia don, late on Tuesday night.
A security audit was conducted by prison headquarters after which the security has been beefed up.
A jail officer has also been deputed who will keep in contact with prison headquarters in Lucknow.
Pramod Tiwari, acting superintendent of the Banda District Jail, said no other prisoner can access Barrack Number-15 where Mukhtar Ansari will be kept.
“Three prison guards will be deployed inside the barrack,” he said.
Inspector General, Chitrakoot Dham Range, K. Satyanarayan, said a PAC unit has also been deployed outside the Banda jail.
A temporary police outpost has also been recommended outside the jail.
Satyanarayan said the Banda police has been kept on high alert and checking of lodges, hotels, rest houses in the district was being done since Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh Police said that Mukhtar Ansari is facing 52 cases in the state and elsewhere, and 15 of them are in the trial stage.
The BSP MLA from Mau has been lodged in Rupnagar prison since January 2019 in connection with an extortion case.
The police have, till now, arrested 96 criminals and seized, freed, or demolished property worth Rs 192 crore linked to the BSP MLA and his associates.
Meanwhile, Mukhtar Ansari’s family members have said that they fear for his life in Uttar Pradesh.
Mukhtar Ansari’s brother and BSP MP from Ghazipur, Afzal Ansari, expressed apprehension that a ‘conspiracy’ may be hatched against him in the UP jail.
“The Ansari family is worried following the media reports and statements made by the BJP leaders. We will approach the judiciary on the issue of security for Mukhtar. When a problem is being created by the state government, then there is no option except seeking the shelter of the judiciary. Justice is still alive in the country. I am confident that justice will prevail and Mukhtar will be proved innocent in all cases,” he said.
His wife Afshan Ansari had earlier written to the President of India, seeking his intervention in the matter.
Meanwhile, family sources said that they planned to take a house on rent in Banda to ensure that they remain close to Ansari.
It may be recalled that Mukhtar and his wife Afsha had suffered a heart attack in the Banda jail in 2018. The two reportedly fell unconscious after consuming tea inside the jail. Afsha had gone to meet her husband.
After this, Mukhtar was shifted to Ropar jail.
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