BANDA/ LUCKNOW: Jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari died at the Banda Medical College in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday following a cardiac arrest, its principal said.

Earlier in the day, Ansari was taken to the hospital after his health deteriorated, his lawyer said.

Banda Medical College principal Suneel Kaushal confirmed to PTI that Ansari died of a cardiac arrest at the facility. He was hospitalised for around 14 hours on Tuesday after he complained of abdominal pain.

Mukhtar Ansari, 60, is a five-time former MLA from Mau Sadar seat and has been behind bars in UP and Punjab since 2005. He has over 60 criminal cases pending against him.

He was sentenced in eight cases since September 2022 by different courts of UP and was lodged in the Banda jail. His name was on the list of 66 gangsters issued by Uttar Pradesh Police last year.

Earlier, his brother and Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari, who reached the hospital, alleged that he was given poison in jail.