UP legislator Mukhtar Ansari cleared of charges under MCOCA

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh legislator Mukhtar Ansari and his three associates were on Thursday acquitted by a trial court of charges of allegedly running an organised crime syndicate. Additional sessions judge Chandra Shekhar absolved 57-year-old Ansari — an independent MLA from Mau, an accused in the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai, along with his alleged accomplices Prem Prakash alias Munna Bajrangi, Iftekhar Ahmed and Meraz Ahmed.The court acquitted the accused due to lack of evidence saying. The accused were absolved of the charges under section 3 (4) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) for being a member of an organised crime syndicate.
A case was lodged against Ansari and three others by Delhi police in 2009 and were later arrested. On May 3, 2012, a trial court had framed charges against the four under MCOCA. Bajrangi, who is lodged in Jhansi jail, was also charged for running an organised crime syndicate. Iftekhar and Meraz Ahmed were charged for conspiring or attempting to commit or advocating, abetting and knowingly facilitating the commission of organised crimes by Bajrangi. All three were acquitted by a magisterial court in 2012 in the extortion case while the case under MCOCA was pending.