The Supreme Court on
Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh police to complete their investigation
against MLA Abbas Ansari in a case under the Gangsters Act within 10 days. A
bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh said Ansari’s bail
application would be reviewed only after the probe is concluded.
On August 31, 2024, an FIR was
registered at the Kotwali Karvi Police Station in Chitrakoot district under
Sections 2 and 3 of the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities
(Prevention) Act, 1986.
The case implicated Abbas
Ansari, alongside Navneet Sachan, Niyaz Ansari, Faraz Khan, and Shahbaz Alam
Khan, who were accused of extortion and assault. Abbas Ansari, an MLA from Mau
constituency representing the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), was
arrested on September 6, 2024, in connection with the case.
Subsequently,
on December 18, 2024, the Allahabad High Court rejected Ansari’s bail plea,
citing the ongoing investigation.
Later,
on January 31, 2025, fearing an encounter, Ansari requested to participate
virtually in the trial court proceedings concerning the Gangsters Act case.
Abbas
Ansari is the current MLA of Mau Assembly constituency, having won the 2022
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election as a representative of the Suheldev
Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). He is the elder son of Mukhtar Ansari, an
Indian gangster turned politician.
In
November 2022, Abbas was arrested by the ED in connection with money
laundering.
In
2023 reports emerged that while incarcerated, Abbas was involved in illegal
activities, including meeting his wife, Nikhat Ansari, within the prison
premises and conducting business operations from jail through her mobile
phones.
The
Supreme Court granted bail to Abbas Ansari on October 18, 2024, in connection
to the money laundering case. A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Pankaj
Mithal had provided relief to the MLA, overturning the Allahabad High Court’s
decision of May 9, which had dismissed his bail application.