10 gangsters died in Uttar Pradesh police custody in past 7 years: Report

After the death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, the postmortem report confirmed that he had died of cardiac arrest. Ansari, a former MLA who had been booked in more than 60 cases, died at a hospital in Banda town.

A report by The Indian Express suggests that in the past 7 years, 10 gangsters have died in Uttar Pradesh police custody. Seven of them died from gunfire while they were being taken to court hearings or health checkups. The other three died due to illness.

Here we list down the names of 10 gangsters who died in Uttar Pradesh police custody:

• Atiq Ahmed and Khalid Azim: Former MP Atiq Ahmed and his brother Khalid Azim, who was also known as Ashraf, died after they were shot by three people outside a hospital in Prayagraj. The incident happened in April 2023, while they were being taken for medical checkups.

Atiq and Ashraf were arrested for the murder of Umesh Pal, who was a witness in the 2005 BSP MLA Raju Pal's murder.

• Munna Bajrangi: Gangster Munna Bajrangi was shot dead on July 9, 2018, by another jailed gangster, Sunil Rathi. He was killed right before he was to be presented in the court. Bajrangi's wife Seema Singh had earlier alleged that his life is in danger.

• Mukeem Kala, Mirajudeen (Miraj) and Anshu Dixit: These three gangsters were shot in April 2021 inside Chitrakoot jail. As per IE report, Dixit had shot Mukeem and Miraj, and Dixit was shot after police intervened.

• Sanjeev Maheshwari: Gangster Sanjeev Maheshwari was shot by Vijay Yadav on June 7, 2023. He was killed before his court hearing. According to the police, he has 24 cases against him, including the 2005 murder case of BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai.

• Khan Mubarak: Khan Mubarak died in June 2023 after he was taken to Hardoi district hospital for treatment. He was a close aide of Chhota Rajan, the underworld don.

• Muneer Mehtab: Mehtab died in Varanasi hospital during treatment in November 2022. He was shifted from Sonbhadra jail for treatment.

(With PTI inputs)