Lakhimpur Kheri: Hearing on bail pleas of Ashish Mishra deferred till Nov 15

The violence in Lakhimpur Kheri was triggered after a car ran over a group of protesting farmers. Farmers have alleged union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s Mahindra Thar mowed down protesters while they were returning from a demonstration

Lucknow/Lakhimpur Kheri: A district and sessions court on Wednesday deferred till November 15 the hearing on the bail applications of Union minister of state for home Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son Ashish and two other accused, Ashish Pandey and Lavkush Rana, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, senior prosecution officials said.

A file photo of members of United Kisan Morcha in Bathinda with the ashes of the farmers who died in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh. The hearing on bail pleas of the accused was deferred on Wednesday until November 15. (Sanjeev Kumar/Hindustan Times/File)

District government counsel (DGC) Arvind Tripathi said the prosecution urged the court of district and sessions judge Mukesh Mishra for some more days as some forensic reports are still awaited. The judge deferred the hearing till November 15.

Violence had erupted at Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3 when four farmers were allegedly mowed down by a speeding vehicle during a protest. A local journalist, a driver and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were also killed in the subsequent violence.

Two FIRs were registered in this connection: one in connection with the death of the four farmers while the second FIR was lodged in connection with the violence during which four others, including two BJP workers, a journalist and the driver of the car, which allegedly mowed down the farmers, were killed.

Ashish Mishra, Ashish Pandey and Lavkush Rana are among the 13 accused, identified and arrested during investigation of the first FIR. The other accused include Sumit Jaiswal, Ankit Das, Shekhar Bharti, Latif alias Kale, Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana, Dharmendra, Nandan Singh Bisht, Shishu Pal, Satya Prakash Tripathi alias Satyam. All the 13 are in judicial custody.

In the second FIR, two people identified as Vichitra Singh and Gurwinder Singh have been arrested. They, too, are in judicial custody.

Tripathi said defence counsel Awadhesh Dubey moved an application in the court enclosing a purported photograph and urged the court for an explanation from the prosecution as to how a BJP worker, Shyam Sundar Nishad, who was seen in the photo in police custody, died.

The prosecution objected to the photo, which was yet to be verified, Tripathi added.