Ritika
In Purvanchal, the terror of mafia Mukhtar Ansari and his gang was widespread among businessmen and entrepreneurs for three decades. The incident of abduction and murder of coal businessman Nand Kishore Rungta of Bhelupur had created fear among the businessmen. This fear remained for three decades. Hegemony over government contracts remained. In the year 1997, Nand Kishore Rungta, a coal businessman resident of Jawahar Nagar Colony of Bhelupur police station area, was abducted.
A ransom of three crores was sought from the relatives by calling. At that time Mukhtar’s most trusted shooter Ataur Rehman picked up Nand Kishore on the pretext of a deal by posing as Vijay, a coal businessman. After killing Nand Kishore, the dead body was buried in Prayagraj.
On December 1, 1997, Mahavir Prasad Rungta filed a case against Mafia Mukhtar Ansari and Ataur Rahman alias Babu, a resident of Maharupur in Muhammadabad, Ghazipur, at Bhelupur police station. Mahavir, the brother of abducted Nand Kishore, alleged that on November 5, 1997, at five o’clock in the evening, he was threatened by Mukhtar over telephone.
The police also investigated the matter, but the police could not catch Ataur Rehman alias Babu named in the case with a reward of five lakh rupees till date. The matter was also investigated by the CBI. According to experts, after carrying out the kidnapping incident, he took refuge in Nepal.
It was also alleged that mafia Mukhtar Ansari called him again and got BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai murdered on 29 November 2005. After this, his terror kept on increasing in eastern UP. Many businessmen were in awe of the name of Mukhtar. He used to collect extortion money from many businessmen of Varanasi.
