Two arrested in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, minister Ajay Mishra’s son untraceable
The arrests come hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the UP government to submit a report within a day on how many arrests have been made so far in connection with the case.
Four days after eight were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri after a minister’s car allegedly ran over protesters, the UP police arrested two persons identified as Luvkush Rana and Ashish Pandey, while union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra is still untraceable. Police said the two arrested are close aides of Asish and more raids are going on. The arrests come hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the UP government to submit a report within a day on how many arrests have been made so far in connection with the case.
“In the status report also tell us about the eight persons who have been killed. Farmers, journalists, etc. It is an unfortunate incident. Tell us whom you registered FIR against. How many have you arrested,” the Supreme Court said as it heard a case on Lakhimpur violence. “The grievance is that you are not registering a proper FIR and a proper investigation not taking place,” Chief Justice NV Ramana said.
The Lakhimpur Kheri violence has triggered a major political storm as the main accused Asish Mishra, who has been named in police FIR, is the son of the minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni. As the opposition leaders are raising demand for the removal of Ajay Mishra, the minister of state on Wednesday met Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. Ajay Mishra has been claiming that his son was not there in the car which ran over the protesters. He claimed the driver lost the balance after being attacked by stone pelters and then some protesters came under the car. Later, his driver was lynched and the car was set on fire, the minister has claimed.
The FIR has named Ashish Mishra and said that he was driving the car which ran over the protesters. According to the FIR, Ashish also opened fire after getting down from the car and then he went into hiding.
However, a fresh video of the incident suggests that three cars were involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and those cars were not under any attack. The first car rammed a group of protesters who were walking with flags at an unexpectedly high speed, followed by the two other cars.
