Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Ashish Mishra Sent To 14-Day Judicial Custody

As per the media reports, Misra has provided videos and affidavits of 10 persons to claim that at the time of the incident, he was not inside the car which mowed down protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

UP Police SIT, on Thursday, arrested two men in this case, thereafter, the police had pasted a notice outside Ashish Mishra's house asking him to appear before it in connection with the case.

The Uttar Pradesh Government has already appointed a single-member judicial commission comprising retired Allahabad High Court judge Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava to probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri Violence.

Supreme Court records its dissatisfaction in the case

Importantly, the Supreme Court on Friday recorded its dissatisfaction over the investigation done by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which claimed the lives of 8 people, four of them being farmers protesters who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.

During the hearing, the bench asked why the accused has not been arrested. When Salve said that the police has served the summons on the main accused Ashish Mishra, the bench asked if that was the norm in all murder cases.

"We are not on merits. Allegation is of 302(Section 302 IPC murder offence). Treat him same way we treat other persons in other cases", the CJI orally told Salve.

The bench pointed out that it was a case of brutal murder of 8 people and in such a case, the police would normally arrest the accused immediately. The bench also pointed out that there were clear eyewitness statements.

"Law must take its course against whoever is involved", the bench orally remarked.

Read court-room exchange here: Lakhimpur Kheri Violence : Supreme Court 'Not Satisfied' With UP Police Probe; Asks 'Is This The Way You Treat Accused In Other Murder Cases?By Sending Summons?'

The PIL in this matter was registered on the basis of a letter sent by two lawyers from Uttar Pradesh seeking a time-bound CBI probe into the recent violent incident of Lakhimpur Kheri.

They have sought judicial intervention and direction against the Union Government and the Uttar Pradesh government along with the concerned bureaucrats so that the cult of violence comes to a grinding halt.

Claiming that of late, violence has become the political culture in the country now, the letter written by lawyers Shiv Kumar Tripathi and C. S. Panda prays for a CBI Probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court.

FIR Against Ashish Mishra

The FIR registered against him states that the whole incident was "premeditated" and that the entire "conspiracy was hatched by the BJP Minister and his son" who committed the act in a display of hooliganism. The FIR also mentions 15-20 unnamed persons as accused.

The FIR further reads as follows:

"The incident took place at around 3 pm when Mishra, along with 15-20 others, who were armed with weapons, came to the protest site in Banbirpur in 3 speeding four-wheelers. Monu Mishra, who was sitting on the left side of his Mahindra Thar vehicle, opened gunfire, mowed down the crowd and went ahead. the firing led to the death of Farmer Gurvinder Singh, son of Sukhwinder, resident of Matronia in Nanpara."

The FIR also alleges that the vehicle of BJP MP's son, Ashish overturned on the side of the road and this caused injuries to several other people present on the side of the road and thereafter, Mishra opened fire, escaped from his car, and hid in the nearby sugarcane field.

The FIR also avers that a video was already viral in the social media, wherein BJP Minister has allegedly seen warning protesters who were opposing the centre's three farm laws. In the video, he had asked the protesters to mend their ways, however, despite this, the Central Government didn't act against the BJP Minister.

About the incident

On October 3, several farmers were holding protests against the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri district, when four protesting farmers were killed after they were mowed down by an SUV.

Allegedly, the SUV was the part of the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra

Yesterday, the police filed a first information report against Ashish Mishra (son of minister Ajay Kumar Mishra) and several others in connection with the violence under Section 302 IPC.

An alleged video of the incident has also surfaced in social media showing a group of protesters moving forward on a road next to farm fields and then being mowed down by a grey SUV that speeds up from behind.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced that a retired High Court judge will probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and also, 45 lakh compensation would be given to the families of the four farmers killed in the incident.