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Barrack No. 15, Banda District Jail, has once again become the new address of dreaded gangster-turned-MLA Mukhtar Ansari.  The Uttar Pradesh Police which took Mukhtar's custody from Punjab Police, on Tuesday, lodged him in the Banda jail in the wee hours of Wednesday.
However, unlike the earlier time when Mukhtar used the jail boundary as a safe fort to ward off any retaliation by his rival gangs besides enjoying all luxuries of life, this time he will be on round-the-clock close surveillance of top officials to check any unlawful activity. For strict enforcement of the rule book of the prison, the state government, for the first time, has set up a centrally located control room at the Prison headquarters which would monitor each activity of the gangster through close circuit television installed on all corners of Mukhtar's barrack besides other entry and exit points of the prison.  
The government is also likely to make a move to get Mukhtar's membership from the State Assembly cancelled.
Interestingly, soon after being lodged in Banda Jail, Mukhtar, who was on a wheelchair, suddenly stood up on his feet and walked down to Barrack No. 16. When the jail officials offered him tea, he claimed to be tired and went to take a rest. The doctors' team later made his check-up and also took his sample for Covid testing at 10 am. After his report came negative, Mukhtar, who was kept in isolation in Barrack No. 16 was shifted to Barrack No. 15 in the evening.
An official communiqué released by the Home Department on Wednesday morning claimed that soon after reaching Banda Jail, all the belongings of the don were thoroughly checked with the help of metal detectors, he was examined by a team of doctors of Banda medical college which found him fully fit, the court papers were also checked before lodging Mukhtar Ansari in barrack No. 16.  
The release said that the barrack was on surveillance though video cameras from a command centre at Jail headquarter in Lucknow.
The government also appointed a city magistrate in Banda as superintendent of Banda Jail for administrative and security purposes while two more deputy jailers were attached with the prison along with other security personnel. The chief medical officer (CMO) of Banda will monitor the health of Mukhtar.
Meanwhile, trouble started for Ansari soon after he reached Banda as a special MP-MLA court in Lucknow summoned him for framing charges on April 12 in a 21-year-old case in which jail officials were allegedly assaulted inside the Lucknow Jail premises by the gangster-turned-politician and his associates.
Special Judge PK Rai will also frame charges against co-accused Aalam, Yusuf Chisti, Kallu Pundit and Lalji Yadav. While Pandit and Yadav are out on bail, Chisti and Aalam are in judicial custody. Charges could not be framed earlier as Ansari was not being produced before the court.
Jailer SN Dwivedi had lodged a first information report in the matter on April 3, 2000 in which it was alleged that Ansari's men had assaulted one of the detainees. As the violence broke out, Dwivedi, deputy jailer Baijnath Ram Chaurasia and others rushed to rescue the man. However, they were also assaulted in the ensuing chaos.
Earlier, after spending over two years in a Punjab prison, Mukhtar was brought back to Banda Jail early on Wednesday morning. He was ferried in an ambulance guarded by a strong posse of gun-toting security personnel throughout his 900-km journey from Ropar to Banda. Before the convoy entered Banda Jail at 4:30 am, it slowed down near Kanpur Dehat as some stray animals blocked the road along a patch of thick forest. Apart from the ambulance, three police vehicles also entered the Banda Jail premises.
At 1:30 am, the police convoy in which Mukhtar Ansari was moving, was stopped for sometime in Satti police station area. As anxious reporters ran to the policemen and sought the reason for the sudden stoppage, no response was given, and the policemen at the spot tried to evade the questions posed by reporters. Later, SO of Satti police station, Kapil Dubey, told journalists, "Mukhtar used the toilet at the Satti police station to attend nature's call. He stayed inside the police station for almost five minutes."
Before this, around 1:10 am, the convoy came to a halt on the road between Bhognipur and Ghatampur due to some stray animals. Initially, the speed of the vehicles was reduced, then the vehicles were stopped and local police removed the stray animals, after which the convoy resumed its journey.
Meanwhile, sources said that the state government would seek legal opinion to get Mukhtar's membership disqualified from the state assembly. Mukhtar has been MLA continuously for the last 24 years since 1996. A senior cabinet minister said that as per the law, the membership of a member of Legislative Council could be cancelled if heshe remained absent for more than 60 days at a stretch. The government is likely to use the provision to get Mukhtar disqualified.