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Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Police investigators search for more evidences
Lakhimpur Kheri case main accused Ashish Mishra sent to 14 days’ judicial custody, court to hear police plea for his custody remand on Monday
The police investigators probing the Lakhimpur Kheri case on Sunday visited a fuel pump on Tikunia-Banbirpur road, which is said to be equipped with CCTV cameras and is in close proximity to the violence site, to collect more evidences. The police team’s visit came a day before a local court in Lakhimpur Kheri district hears the police plea seeking custody remand of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra on Monday,
Ashish Mishra was arrested late on Saturday night after which a local court sent him to 14 days’ judicial custody.
A police official privy to the investigation said the nine- member committee of investigators headed by deputy inspector general (DIG) Upendra Agarwal tried to establish the sequence of events in connection with the Lakhimpur violence and verify the statements obtained so far on the basis of visuals of CCTV cameras installed at the pump.
He said the probe team also visited Banbirpur, the native village of the minister, and recorded statements of several people there.
UP Police additional director general (ADG), Law and Order, Prashant Kumar on Sunday said the Lakhimpur police have applied for the custody remand of the main accused Ashish Mishra to interrogate him further about the incident. He said the local court would hear the police petition on the custody remand on Monday. Ashish Mishra was arrested on Saturday after he did not give satisfactory answers to questions, he said.
Another police official said Mishra did not clarify his location and presence at the spot when the violence erupted allegedly after his vehicle mowed down four farmers on October 3. He said Ashish Mishra submitted multiple videos and affidavits about his presence in the village, but did not give satisfactory answers about his location between a certain time period — 2.36 pm and 3.40 pm. He said Ashish Mishra’s cell phone was seized and video recording of the entire process was done by the investigation committee.
Mishra was arrested after multiple hours of questioning at the crime branch office in reserve police lines at the district headquarters on Saturday.
After the main accused was sent to 14 days’ judicial custody, district jail superintendent PP Singh said Ashish Mishra was kept in quarantine barrack number 21, designated for new jail inmates. He said Ashish Mishra was provided all the facilities which are permissible to every prisoner.
Earlier on Thursday, ADG Kumar had said the police identified six people as accused –three of them dead in the violence, the two men arrested on Thursday, and Ashish Mishra. Another accused was unidentified. Two of the accused, Luv Kush and Ashish Pandey, were arrested and sent to jail on Thursday.
Later, people familiar with the issue said the names of two more people — former Union minister Akhilesh Das’s nephew Ankit Das and one Sumit Jaiswal — also surfaced during the investigation. They said the police are carrying out raids in search of the duo. They said the duo was said to be accompanying Ashish Mishra in an SUV at the time of the incident on October 3.
