A fast-track court on Wednesday acquitted don-turned-Uttar Pradesh MLA Mukhtar Ansari and seven others in an eight-year-old murder case, PTI reported. It convicted and sentenced three others to life.

Judge Adil Aftab Ahmed acquitted the Bahujan Samaj Party MLA from Mau Sadar and seven others in the murder of contractor Ajay Pratap Singh, who was shot dead on August 29, 2009. Three others – Arvind Yadav, Amresh Kannaujia and Raju Kannaujia – were convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Another accused, Raju Chauhan, was killed in a police encounter earlier.

Ansari is currently in the Banda district jail in connection with the other cases against him. in March, he had contested and won from the Mau Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh.