The opposition parties on Friday trained guns on the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari in judicial custody and demanded a high-level inquiry under a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court.

Outraged over the death of the gangster-turned-politician, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, said that a government that “cannot protect life has no right to remain in power”.

From its official X handle, the SP posted, “Sad demise of former MLA Shri Mukhtar Ansari. May his soul rest in peace. May the bereaved family members get the strength to bear this immense sorrow. Humble tribute!”

In a series of posts on X, former chief minister of UP, Akhilesh Yadav, said, “It is the first responsibility and duty of the government to protect someone’s life in every situation and at every place. The death of a hostage or prisoner... will erode public confidence in the judicial process.”

“All such doubtful cases should be investigated under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge. The way the government bypasses the judicial process and adopts other methods is completely illegal,” his post added.

“Uttar Pradesh is going through the worst phase of ‘government anarchy’. This is ‘zero hour’ of law and order in UP,” he added.

SP leader Ameeque Jamai said, “We stand with the family of Mukhtar Ansari. Recently he said that he could be murdered anytime; why was he not given a proper medical facility… We will demand a thorough investigation of the incident.”

“Condemnable and regrettable,” BSP supremo Mayawati posted from her X handle,

“The persistent apprehensions and serious allegations made by Mukhtar Ansari’s family regarding his death in jail require a high-level investigation so that the facts of his death can be revealed. In such a situation, it is natural for his family to be sad. May nature give them the strength to bear this sorrow.”

Akash Anand, nephew of Mayawati, also expressed his shock over the death of Mukhtar Ansari. He posted on social media that the law and order situation in UP is very bad. Murder in police custody, murder in court, murder in hospital and now the suspicious death of Mukhtar Ansari raises serious questions on the working style of the administration, he added.

Congress leader Surendra Rajput said in Lucknow, “How accused Mukhtar Ansari died in jail raises serious questions on the BJP government of Uttar Pradesh… There should be a high-level investigation into this incident and this investigation should be conducted under the supervision of a High Court judge.”

Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav posted, “Sad news was received about the demise of former UP MLA Shri Mukhtar Ansari. We pray to God to grant peace to the departed soul and strength to the bereaved family to bear the loss. A few days ago he had complained that he had been poisoned in jail, yet it was not taken seriously. Prima facie this does not seem justifiable and humane. Constitutional institutions should take suo motu cognisance of such strange cases and incidents.”

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi posted from his X handle, “I pray to Allah to forgive Mukhtar Ansari and give patience to his family and his loved ones. The people of Ghazipur lost their favourite son and brother. Mukhtar Saheb had made serious allegations against the administration that he was poisoned. Despite this, the government did not pay any attention to his treatment.”

Similar allegations regarding the alleged poisoning have been made by the family of the dead gangster Mukhtar Ansari. His son Umar Ansari said, “I was not told anything from the administration side, I came to know about it through the media. But now the whole nation knows everything. Two days ago I came to meet him, but I was not allowed. We said earlier also and even today we will say the same about the allegation of giving slow poison. On 19th March, he was poisoned at dinner. We will move to the judiciary, we have full faith in it.”

The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) has demanded a judicial inquiry into the death of former MLA Mukhtar Ansari in Banda.

CPI (ML) state secretary Sudhakar Yadav said in a statement that Mukhtar Ansari’s death could also be murder hence a judicial inquiry was necessary to bring out the truth and to clear the cloud of suspicion.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) state unit said in a statement on Friday that the death of former MLA Mukhtar Ansari, imprisoned on various charges in Banda jail, had put the government and the administration in the dock. It termed the incident as tragic and demanded a high-level impartial investigation.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sidharth Nath Singh reacted on Mukhtar Ansari’s death saying, “Mukhtar Ansari was a criminal; his post-mortem is underway and reports are yet to be out, despite that the a way, political party, especially leaders of SP, Congress and BSP, are jumping now, shows how much pain they have for a criminal. Serious allegations have been made against Mukhtar Ansari and even the court sentenced him to life imprisonment but still their pain towards him indicates how they (SP, Congress and BSP) backed the protection of ‘mafia raj’.”

Gangster Mukhtar Ansari was shifted to Banda Medical College Hospital after he complained of pain in the abdomen. As per the hospital, Ansari was admitted to the ICU after the hospitalisation. However, as his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to CCU. The hospital said that a team of nine doctors were attending him. However, he died during treatment after suffering a heart attack.