NEW DELHI: Almost 14 years after
BJP MLA
Krishnanand Rai and six of his supporters were gunned down in broad day-light in Ghazipur,
Uttar Pradesh, in 2005, a CBI court in Delhi on Wednesday acquitted all the accused, including don-turned-MLA
Mukhtar Ansari and his brother and MP,
Afzal Ansari in the case.
“We were implicated by Rai’s family and supporters out of political rivalry and through a well-planned conspiracy. A Bollywood-type plot was hatched against us. This was the only case ever lodged against me in my 40-year-old political career and was a blot on me. Mukhtar and I are relieved to have been acquitted along with our other relatives,” Afzal Ansari, who was elected as BSP MP from Ghazipur in recent elections, told ET.
He said Mukhtar Ansari was in jail when Rai’s murder happened but he was still named as the main conspirator. Alka Rai, widow of the slain MLA, told ET that the verdict a “miscarriage of justice” as witnesses were threatened and demanded CBI file an appeal in High Court. The case rested on statements of survivors in the attack who identified the assailants and claimed they had shouted “Maro isko…Mukhtarbhai aur Afzalbhai ko bahut pareshaan karta hai” (kill Rai as he is causing trouble to Mukhtar and Afzal Ansari) and fired indiscriminately.