Lucknow: A special court in Uttar Pradesh on Monday set free the gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and his allies. This was a case of threatening a Lucknow jailor and a few others about 23 years back.

Special Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate A K Srivastava observed that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against Ansari and his four associates Lalji Yadav, Kallu Pandit, Yusuf Chisti and Alam.

The court had framed charges against Yadav, Pandit, Chisti and Alam back in August 2021, while it had charge-sheeted Mukhtar Ansari on March 28th, 2022.

In the case, the jailor SN Dwivedi and deputy jailor Baijnath Ram had lodged the FIR with Alambagh police station on April 1, 2000.

It was alleged in the FIR that on March 29, 2000, the prisoners were going back to the barracks after their appearance in the court at around 6 pm. At the time, Mukhtar along with his close aids went inside a barrack and started hitting another inmate Chand.

Reportedly, when the jailor and the deputy jailor tried to save Chand, the accused persons also attacked the officers and chief bandi rakshak Swami Dayal Awasthi.

When the alarm rang, the accused returned to their barracks while resorting to brick batting. The FIR further said that the accused had also threatened the jailor and his deputy that they would be killed along with their family members.