Mukhtar Ansari, in one of his last phone calls to his family, had said that his body was not in his control.
In an audio recording from late last week, in which Ansari is supposed to be speaking to his younger son Umar, the once fearful MLA said that he could barely move. He also said that he was unable to observe his rozas and could only offer the namaz only once a day.
"I cannot sit, I cannot stand", Ansari said in a barely audible voice.
"If Allah keeps me alive, the soul will live, else the body will go", Ansari further said.
He described himself as being in a wheelchair from which he could not move. He also lets in that he has not used the toilet for the last 10 days.
Today Umar said that his father was slowly being poisoned since March 19. "He was not even able to talk before the judge and kept slipping into unconsciousness", he said.
The judge in question was hearing another case in which Ansari was a petitioner and witness.
In July 2001, Ansari’s vehicle came under heavy firing from another gangster Brijesh Singh and his ally Tribhuvan Singh. Two of Ansari’s gunners were killed in the face-off. This is known as the Ursi Chatti shootout based on the name of the place in the Ghazipur district where it occurred.
In 2005, Ansari retaliated by killing off Krishnand Rai, a BJP MLA who patronised Singh.
A case was subsequently filed by Ansari, about the Ursi Chatti shootout against Singh.
In 2023, another FIR was lodged in which Anasri was named as the murderer of one of his gunners- who he had believed was going behind his back to get government contracts.
Singh, incidentally had run away from the state post Rai’s murder and was nabbed by Delhi Police in 2008 and jailed. He was released by the Allahabad High Court in 2022. Ansari’s testimony could have sent him back to jail. The state’s alleged 'Thakur lobby' thus wanted to protect Singh.
In the audio, which is yet to be verified; Ansari said that he could barely sit up. When Umar talks about meeting him, he asks to come after a few days as he has 'no control' over his body.
Umar is heard saying that it is the effect of the poison.