India, March 29 -- LUCKNOW Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who died following a cardiac arrest on Thursday evening in Banda, faced over 65 criminal cases, most of them for murder, extortion, and anti-social activities that were filed across several districts of UP and Delhi. But it is said that five killings - that of coal tycoon Nand Kishore Rungta, BJP MLA Krishna Nand Rai, leading UP contractor Manna Singh, political rival Vishwanath Ram Munib and his archrival Awadhesh Rai - made Ansari the 'uncrowned king' of UP's underworld.

The murder of Krishnanand Rai, 50, BJP MLA from Mohammadabad assembly, along with six associates on November 29, 2005, sparked outrage in UP. He was killed by a group of seven contract killers allegedly led...