Lucknow (PTI): Authorities in Banda district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday bulldozed two houses belonging to alleged aides of gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, saying they were constructed illegally.

They said the alleged aides provided logistics and other support to Ansari.

"Illegally constructed houses of Rafiqusmad and Iftikar have been razed in Banda district. The duo used to provide logistic and other support to Ansari," Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

The police also recovered double barrel guns and cartridges from the houses, he said.

The officer said Rafiqusmad's house near Rafiq nursing home in Aliganj area and Iftikar's house at Zila Parishad crossing were demolished as maps for the same were not approved.

Police has recovered cash worth Rs 7 lakh from Rafiqusmad's house.

While Rafiqusmad used to provide logistic and other support to Ansari, Iftikar used to provide residential facilities to the gangster-turned-politician's family, he said.

Officials said the process to cancel the licence of the firearms has also been initiated after the recovery of the double barrel guns and keeping more than permitted limit of cartridges.

The district administration in Ghazipur had on Sunday demolished a building built by Ansari's aide Kamlesh Singh.

Authorities had also demolished a two-storey house belonging to Ansari's sons, Abbas and Umar Ansari, in Jahangirabad locality in Mau district.

Ansari is presently lodged in Banda jail. His son Abbas Ansari, an MLA of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party from Mau, is in prison in connection with a money laundering case. He is currently lodged in the Kasganj district prison.

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New Delhi, Sep 24: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said 90 per cent of small investors have lost Rs 1.8 lakh crore in Futures and Option (F&O) trading in three years and asked the SEBI to reveal the names of the "so called big players" profiteering at their expense.

More than 91 per cent, or 73 lakh, individual traders lost money in the F&O segment in FY24 with an average net loss of Rs 1.2 lakh per person, a study conducted by markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) revealed on Monday.

Further, 93 per cent of over 1 crore individual F&O traders incurred average losses of about Rs 2 lakh per trader (inclusive of transaction costs) during the three years from FY22 to FY24. The aggregate losses of such traders exceeded Rs 1.8 lakh crore during the period.

Gandhi, who is the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on X, "Uncontrolled F&O trading has grown 45X in 5 years. 90% of small investors have lost ₹1.8 lakh Cr in 3 years."

"SEBI must reveal the names of the so called 'Big Players' making a killing at their expense," the former Congress chief said.

The study said in FY24 alone, individuals incurred about Rs 75,000 crore in net losses.

It found the top 3.5 per cent of loss-makers -- about 4 lakh traders -- faced an average loss of Rs 28 lakh per person over the same period, inclusive of transaction costs.

On the other hand, only 7.2 per cent of individual F&O traders made a profit over the period of three years and only 1 per cent of individual traders managed to earn profits exceeding Rs 1 lakh, after adjusting for transaction costs.

Moreover, the number of retail traders, or individual traders, has almost doubled in two years to about 96 lakh in FY24 from about 51 lakh in FY22.

Although such investors contributed about 30 per cent to the total turnover in FY24, they are a clear majority in number terms, as 99.8 per cent of total traders in the equity F&O segment are individuals.

"The availability of sophisticated trading platforms and lower transaction costs have enabled retail investors to actively trade in options and futures contracts, contributing to the surge in market liquidity," SEBI said.

The regulator said rapid growth in F&O trading activity has highlighted the need for investor education and risk management practices, as a significant proportion of retail traders continued to incur losses in the market.