Varanasi, June 5 : Jailed gangster Mukhtar Ansari was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment in the 32-year-old Avadesh Rai murder case. Earlier in the day, the MP/MLA court in Varanasi had convicted Ansari in the case. A five-time MLA, Mukhtar Ansari has been charged with the murder of Awadhesh Rai, Congress leader and brother of former MLA Ajay Rai, who was shot dead outside the latter's house in Varanasi on August 3, 1991. The case was unusual since the case diary had gone missing which delayed the trial. Ansari has been convicted in several criminal cases in the past. The Varanasi MP MLA court had concluded the hearing after arguments on May 19, reserved its order, and fixed June 5 as the date to deliver it. Ansari is already serving a 10-year jail term in another kidnapping and murder case. He was convicted in April. /IANS