DM Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya transferred over Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

The Uttar Pradesh government transferred Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya, the district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri, replacing him with Mahendra Bahadur Singh, who was Mainpuri’s district magistrate

The Uttar Pradesh government late on Wednesday transferred Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya, the district magistrate (DM) of Lakhimpur Kheri, replacing him with Mahendra Bahadur Singh, who was Mainpuri’s DM.

Farmers in Varanasi carry ashes of protesters killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. District magistrate Arvind Kumar Chaurasiya was transferred over his handling of the case. (PTI/File)

The move came in the backdrop of violence and the deaths of eight people at a farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.

A total of 10 IAS officers were transferred, including the district magistrates of six districts.

In new DM appointments, Chandrabhushan Tripathi will handle Hamirpur, Arun Kumar takes charge of Mau, Sheshmani Pandey will go to Amethi, Avinash Krishna Singh has been given charge of Mainpuri, and Alok Singh will be posted in Lalitpur.

Suraj Patel has been made joint magistrate of Meerut and Anuraj Jain has been made joint magistrate of Kanpur.

The move came as the Uttar Pradesh government faced flak over the October 3 violence and deaths in Lakhimpur Kheri’s Tikunia, which was triggered when a car that was part of a convoy of union minister of state Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra, allegedly ran over protesting farmers.

The district administration has been blamed for mishandling the case and delaying action following the deaths.

Ashish Mishra, among the prime accused in the case, was arrested on October 9 after hours of interrogation.

The Supreme Court has taken up the case suo motu, pulling up the Uttar Pradesh police for sluggish progress in its probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri case.