UP Police conduct raids at multiple locations in hunt for Mukhtar Ansari’s wife Afsha

Posted on by Vividh Bharathi

Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh), May 10 (IANS) Police teams from Uttar Pradesh’s Mau and Ghazipur districts on Sunday conducted intensive raids at multiple locations in search of absconding Afsha Ansari, wife of deceased gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and an alleged associate of the IS-191 gang, officials said.

According to police, Afsha Ansari has been absconding for a long period and carries a reward of Rs 50,000 each announced by the police in Mau and Ghazipur districts. A lookout circular has also been issued against her.

Ghazipur Superintendent of Police Iraj Raja said raids were conducted at seven suspected hideouts across Mau and Ghazipur districts, including the residences of alleged associates where Afsha Ansari was suspected to be hiding.

“Afsha Ansari, wife of deceased gangster Mukhtar Ansari, is wanted in connection with cases linked to the IS-191 gang. Raids were conducted at seven locations in Ghazipur and Mau districts. Information gathered during the searches is being analysed and electronic evidence is also being collected,” the Superintendent of Police said.

He expressed confidence that Afsha Ansari would soon be arrested and added that other gang members allegedly involved in criminal activities were also under police surveillance.

Police teams carried out searches at the residences of Mansoor Ansari, former Mau Municipal Chairman Tayyab Palki, Gaus Moinuddin, Lalji Yadav, Arvind Singh, Umesh Singh and Shyamlal Sonkar.

One of the major raids was conducted at the residence of former Municipal Chairman Tayyab Palki in Mau city’s Mirzahadipura area. Police teams from Kasimabad police station in Ghazipur and Dakshin Tola police station in Mau reached the premises with a heavy police force at around 9 a.m. and conducted a search operation lasting nearly an hour.

Women police personnel separately questioned women members of the household and verified their identities, but no clue regarding Afsha Ansari was found. Police later returned without making any arrest.

The raids triggered panic among supporters and associates linked to Mukhtar Ansari in the region.

According to police records, Afsha Ansari, a resident of Yusufpur in the Mohammadabad area of Ghazipur district, faces multiple criminal cases.

Several cases, including those related to fraud, forgery, the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, the Gangsters Act and Section 174-A of the IPC, have been registered against her at Dakshin Tola police station in Mau. Around 10 other cases are also reportedly registered against her at various police stations in Ghazipur district.

Following the raid, Tayyab Palki termed the police action politically motivated. He claimed that despite cooperating with investigators, police personnel entered the house and questioned women members of the family.

“My association with Mukhtar Ansari was only political. I never had any direct connection with the family,” he said, alleging that political rivals were behind the repeated police action against him.

Meanwhile, Mau Circle Officer Krish Rajpoot confirmed that a joint team of Mau and Ghazipur Police conducted raids in the Dakshin Tola area to trace and arrest the wanted accused.

–IANS

sn/pgh

Related Posts

‘One Nation, One Time’ under IST to ensure accuracy and national security: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi, June 18 (IANS) Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday highlighted that the upcoming Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, will mandate synchronisation of all legal, commercial and administrative activities with Indian Standard Time (IST), prohibiting the use of alternative time references unless explicitly authorised.

The minister emphasised the strategic significance of the Time Dissemination Project being implemented by the Department of Consumer Affairs in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO.

Addressing a Round Table Conference on Time Dissemination at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Minister underscored that precise and uniform dissemination of IST across sectors such as financial markets, power grids, telecommunications, transportation, and others is essential to ensuring fairness, accuracy and national security.

The initiative aims to deliver IST with millisecond to microsecond accuracy through five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronisation protocols like NTP and PTP, ushering in a new era of digital and administrative efficiency under the vision of ‘One Nation, One Time’, he explained.

For the common man, this initiative translates into more secure digital transactions, accurate billing in utilities, reduced cybercrime risks and synchronised timekeeping in transportation and communication, ensuring fairness, transparency, and trust in day-to-day services.

Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, Nidhi Khare, in her presentation, highlighted the urgent need for accurate, secure and legally mandated dissemination of IST to ensure uniformity across strategic and non-strategic sectors.

She explained that under the Time Dissemination Project, the Department, in collaboration with CSIR-NPL and ISRO, is establishing an advanced infrastructure comprising five Regional Reference Standard Laboratories (RRSLs) in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Faridabad, and Guwahati. These centres are being equipped with atomic clocks and secure synchronisation systems using Network Time Protocol (NTP) and Precision Time Protocol (PTP) to ensure millisecond to microsecond accuracy.

The Secretary emphasised that the forthcoming Legal Metrology (Indian Standard Time) Rules, 2025, will mandate synchronisation of all legal, administrative and commercial operations with IST, making India’s timekeeping infrastructure legally enforceable, digitally secure and globally benchmarked.

Her presentation outlined the risks posed by current reliance on foreign time sources, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities like spoofing and jamming. She further stated that the implementation of these rules would be a crucial step toward ensuring traceability, enhancing operational reliability, and fostering national time sovereignty. The initiative is a major step in building a trusted and standardised digital ecosystem across the country.

The Round Table Conference witnessed active participation from over 100 stakeholders representing a broad spectrum of sectors. These included senior officials from key Government Ministries and Departments as well as public sector companies, banks and business chambers.

–IANS

sps/uk

Calcutta HC seeks report on humiliation of school teacher by chairman of TMC-run municipality

Kolkata, Nov 22 (IANS) The Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court has directed the District Inspector of Schools (Secondary) in Jalpaiguri to submit a detailed report on the alleged humiliation of a woman school teacher by the chairman of her institution’s managing committee, who also heads the Trinamool Congress–run Jalpaiguri Municipality.

Justice Kaushik Chanda passed the order on Friday, but the copy of the order in the matter was uploaded on Saturday morning.

A video had gone viral earlier this month where Jalpaiguri Municipality chairman, Saikat Chatterjee, was seen forcing the woman teacher attached to Suniti Bala Sadar Girls High School in Jalpaiguri district to perform sit-ups, holding her ears inside the school premises.

The Leader of the Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, had shared this video on his social media handles and claimed that humiliation of women in the workplace, largely at the hands of grassroots leaders of the Trinamool Congress, has become rampant in West Bengal.

Later, the headmistress of Suniti Bala Sadar Girls High School, Sutapa Das, approached the Jalpaiguri Circuit Bench of the Calcutta High Court with the plea for the removal of Chatterjee from the post of chairman of the educational institution’s managing committee.

The matter came up for hearing on Friday. During the hearing, Justice Chanda expressed strong displeasure over the conduct seen in the video and called it “obnoxious”. Thereafter, he directed the district inspector of schools to carry out an investigation into the matter and submit a report to the court within the next two weeks.

This was not the first time that Chatterjee had been in the midst of controversy.

This is not the first time Chatterjee has been embroiled in controversy. In 2023, the alleged suicide of Pandapara Road residents, lawyer Subodh Bhattacharya and his wife Aparna, after consuming poison, had sparked public outrage. Their suicide note purportedly named Chatterjee — then the district president of the Trinamool Congress youth wing and municipal vice-chairman — along with several other TMC councillors.

–IANS

src/skp

CM Nitish Kumar’s security tightened amid hijab row; police probe threat video

Patna, Dec 18 (IANS) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s security has been significantly tightened following a controversy that erupted during an appointment letter distribution ceremony for AYUSH doctors, where he allegedly pulled off the hijab of a Muslim woman doctor.

According to government sources, the decision comes in the wake of threats reportedly received by the Chief Minister, including one allegedly issued by a foreign-based gangster.

Sources said Nitish Kumar will now remain under a much stricter security cordon, and access to him will be limited to a select group of individuals. The move follows intelligence inputs indicating possible threats from anti-social and criminal elements after the incident sparked widespread political and social reactions.

According to reports, a Pakistani gangster identified as Shahzad Bhatti released a video allegedly threatening the Bihar Chief Minister. The Bihar Police have registered an FIR in the matter and initiated an investigation.

Intelligence agencies have also shared security-related inputs with the state police. Following a high-level review, the Director General of Police (DGP) and senior officials decided to enhance Nitish Kumar’s security arrangements.

The Chief Minister’s security is handled by the Special Security Group (SSG), a unit of the Bihar Police, which has now been instructed to further tighten its protective measures. District Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) across Bihar have also been issued specific directions.

According to police sources, only ministers and a few senior officials will now be allowed to approach the Chief Minister. Any special meeting requests will require prior permission and a thorough background verification.

Additional security protocols will be implemented during visits to sensitive areas, and police will maintain heightened vigilance over the Chief Minister’s movements.

Meanwhile, the hijab-related incident continues to draw strong reactions.

Maulana Sajjad Nomani, spokesperson of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, issued a statement urging Bihar Minister Jama Khan and JD(U) MLC Khalid Anwar to leave the party if they wished to stand in solidarity with the Muslim community.

Renowned lyricist and writer Javed Akhtar also condemned the incident, calling for an unconditional apology from the Chief Minister.

In a post on X, Akhtar wrote: “Anyone who knows me even a little knows how much I oppose the practice of veiling, but that does not mean I can accept what Nitish Kumar did to a Muslim woman doctor. I strongly condemn it. He should apologise unconditionally.”

At the same time, NDA leaders have defended Nitish Kumar.

Union Textile Minister Giriraj Singh justified the Chief Minister’s action, stating that showing one’s face during official verification is standard practice.

“This is India, not Pakistan. When one goes to collect a passport or boards a flight, identity verification is mandatory. Nitish Kumar acted as a guardian and did nothing wrong,” Singh said.

Union MSME Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi also expressed support for the Chief Minister.

The incident, political reactions and security developments have intensified the debate in Bihar, with the issue now drawing national attention.

–IANS

ajk/pgh