Over one lakh people joined the funeral procession of Mukhtar Ansari, the jailed gangster-politician who died amid allegations of poisoning in prison, in the Mahmoodabad area of Ghazipur on Saturday, police said.

Three companies of paramilitary forces and over 300 policemen were deployed along a 1km stretch between the Ansari residence and the Kali Bagh graveyard, where Mukhtar was buried beside his father Subhanullah Ansari and mother Begum Rabiya.

Mukhtar, 63, enjoyed a Robin Hood-like image, having expanded his constituency of voters by generously helping people with money, gained allegedly through contract killing, extortion, kidnapping and property grab.

While a judicial magistrate is probing his family’s allegation of "slow poisoning in jail", the government appears apprehensive that the Ansaris might approach a higher court for an investigation.

On Saturday, the Congress joined the Samajwadi Party in demanding an inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court judge.

A team of judicial and administrative officials arrived at Banda jail on Saturday morning. They are believed to be preparing a preliminary report on the circumstances leading to Mukhtar’s death for submission to a higher court, if necessary.

The government has yet to make Mukhtar’s post-mortem report public. Sources said it mentions "death by cardiac arrest", which is what the hospital authorities, too, have said.

"The report said he consulted doctors 84 times in the past three years. He was suffering from diabetes, hypertension and constipation for the last five years," a source in the police department said.

"There was no food in his stomach at the time of death. He was brought to the Rani Durgavati Medical College Hospital from the Banda jail at 8.30pm on Thursday after he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was unconscious at the time. The doctors declared him dead at 10.30pm."

The police brought his body to his home in Ghazipur late on Friday night.

Mukhtar, a former MLA, had been in jail since 2005. He was awarded life sentences in two cases on charges including murder, apart from lesser terms in five other cases.

There are criminal cases also against his elder brothers --- Afzal Ansari, who is seeking re-election from the Ghazipur Lok Sabha seat as a Samajwadi candidate, and Sibgatullah, former Samajwadi MLA from Mahmoodabad.

Mukhtar’s eldest son Abbas Ansari is MLA from Mau and represents the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, a BJP ally. He has been in Kasganj jail for the past few months, accused in a money-laundering case.

Mukhtar’s wife Afsan Ansari too is wanted in the money-laundering case and is in hiding. The police have announced a reward of Rs 75,000 for information on her whereabouts.