By India Today News Desk: Jailed don and former Uttar Pradesh MLA Mukhtar Ansari, who has murder, kidnapping and extortion cases against him, boasts of a fleet of expensive cars bearing registration numbers ending with ‘786’.

Mukhtar Ansari’s penchant for ‘786’ is considered to be auspicious. He reportedly said the digits were considered holy by Muslims as they denote the numeral equivalent of ‘Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Rahim’, which means in the name of God, the merciful and compassionate in Arabic.

On April 29, an MP-MLA court in Ghazipur sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to 10-year imprisonment in connection with cases of kidnapping and murder.

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Long before earning a name as a notorious gangster, Mukhtar Ansari was a good cricketer and huntsman. He was fond of luxury vehicles. During his college days, Mukhtar Ansari, popularly known as ‘Lambu’ to his friends, was often seen on the streets of Mohammadabad and Ghazipur riding a Bullet and driving a jeep with his buddies.

When Mukhtar Ansari entered politics in the 1990s, he had a great collection of vehicles like a Maruti Gypsy, Tata Safari, Ford Endeavour, Pajero Sport, Audi, BMW. He also went hunting with a bullet, an ambassador car and a jeep.

NUMBER PLATES OF VEHICLES HAD ‘786’

In 1986, when Mukhtar Ansari came out of prison after being jailed for the first time, in connection with the murder of Sachchidanand Rai, a contractor. Outside the prison quarters, he was welcomed by his aides with a convoy of luxury vehicles, all of which had number plates ending with ‘786’.

WANTED TO ADD SUV HUMMER TO HIS COLLECTION

As there was a lot of craze for Tata Safari in those days, Mukhtar Ansari’s collection used to have a white open gypsy and five to six monochromatic Tata Safaris and all had number plates ending with ‘786’. The don, who is currently lodged in Banda jail, wished to have an SUV Hummer in his collection of luxury vehicles. However, the wish remains unfulfilled.

WIFE, CHILDREN’S FETISH FOR EXPENSIVE VEHICLES

Apart from Mukhtar Ansari, his wife Afsa Ansari possessed luxury vehicles like Audi, Mercedes and BMW. Her sons Abbas and Umar had a Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavor and BMW in their collection.

Afsa Ansari’s brothers also had luxury vehicles in their possession, like Audi, BMW and Hyundai Elantra. Mukhtar Ansari’s MP brother Afzal used vehicles like Pajero Sport and Ford EcoSport.

These luxury vehicles were worth crores and most of them have been seized by police after being declared ‘benami’.

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On April 29, an MP-MLA court in Ghazipur sentenced Mukhtar Ansari to 10 years’ imprisonment in connection with cases of kidnapping and murder. He was booked for his involvement in the 1996 kidnapping case of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Nandkishore Rungta and the 2005 murder of BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. His brother, Afzal Asari was awarded a four-year jail sentence.

(with inputs from Vinay Kumar Singh)