Aryaka Akhoury’s Spat with Mukhtar Ansari’s Brother Goes Viral: Meet IAS Officer from Gangster’s Funeral Video

As the funeral of gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari was held on Saturday, a video of his brother MP Afzal Ansari’s heated argument with Aryaka Akhoury, District Magistrate (DM), Ghazipur, over the last rites has gone viral on social media.

Ansari died of cardiac arrest at UP’s Banda Medical College on Thursday. Thousands from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur and the neighbouring districts gathered at Kali Bagh graveyard in Mohammadabad town for the last rites on Saturday.

As Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which prevented the assembly for more than four people, was imposed, Akhoury and other administrative officials were handling the arrangements at the graveyard and managing the entry of the people at the burial site. “The debate was about a burial ritual in which soil is poured on the grave by those who attend the funeral,” an administrative official said.

Akhoury stood against the MP, saying no prior permission was sought to carry out the ritual. On the DM’s remark, the MP said that, “No prohibitory orders can stop people from participating in the ritual.”

Responding to him, the DM said, “As Section 144 is in place, I cannot allow the entire town to participate in the ritual. Only the family members can perform the ritual.”

WHO IS ARYAKA AKHOURY?

Born on December 14, 1985, Akhoury is originally from Patna district of Bihar. She is an IAS officer of 2013 batch and is MSc (Biotech). She joined the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) on September 2, 2013. After training in Mussoorie, she got her first posting as the Joint Magistrate, Varanasi. She became the Chief Development Officer in Meerut district. She has also been Special Secretary in the Secondary Education Department, Government of Uttar Pradesh. On February 11, 2022, she got her first posting as Collector in Bhadohi district.

Akhoury came to light following the crackdown on the mafias and landsharks. As a DM in Bhadohi district, she adopted a firm stance regarding law and order. She has taken many strict actions, including cancelling the firearms licences of miscreants and imposing the Gangster Act against former MLA Vijay Mishra. Along with this, she had also imposed a ban on wearing jeans-tops and T-shirts in government offices.