Government claims that Mukhtar Ansari got medical care 84 times while incarcerated at Banda prison amid accusations of “slow poisoning.”

84 times during his almost three-year incarceration at Banda prison, gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari sought medical checkups, a government official disclosed on Saturday.

According to the official, Mukhtar Ansari received medical attention both inside and outside the prison, per the advice of medical experts who evaluated his condition.

Five-time MLA Mukhtar Ansari has been detained since 2005 after turning himself in for a communal riot case in Mau that claimed seven lives. He was transferred from many prisons in Uttar Pradesh, including one where he was held for more than two years in Punjab, to Banda jail in April 2021.

Mukhtar Ansari’s wife filed a petition with the then-President in September 2018, pointing out his serious medical ailments and the dearth of proper care, citing a prior heart attack she had when her husband was incarcerated in Banda.

After that, in January 2019, Mukhtar Ansari was sent to the Ropar prison, where he stayed until April 2021. He disclosed health problems while he was there, including two previous cardiac arrests and current ailments including diabetes and high blood sugar.

Mukhtar Ansari began receiving outpatient treatment at the Chandigarh outpatient department of Nehru Hospital in March 2019 because of a prolapsed disc, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus, among other conditions.

Medical papers from Rupnagar, Punjab, were cited by the government as supporting Mukhtar Ansari’s diagnosis of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, prolapsed disc, and depression with somatic symptoms.

In Ghazipur, Ansari was buried on Saturday under strict security, and hundreds of people watched the funeral procession.

Five-time MLA Ansari fell dead at Rani Durgawati Medical College after a decline in his health while he was being held in Banda prison since 2005.

According to a medical source, Ansari’s post-mortem revealed that he passed away from cardiac arrest on Friday. But when opposition parties questioned the death of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari—whose family said he died in Banda prison from “slow poisoning”—a magistrate’s investigation was launched.