Punjab CM seeks permission to go to Lakhimpur Kheri, 6 taken into custody: 10 points

The Uttar Pradesh government has started negotiations with the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, requesting them to end their protest. The farmer groups have put forward four main demands, including resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni and arrest of his son.

The Uttar Pradesh government has imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in Lakhimpur Kheri to prevent huge gathering in the area where eight people were killed in violence on Sunday. The violence took place when the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri were protesting against Centre's three farm laws; they claimed that a convoy of vehicles belonging to Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish "ran over" some of the protesters killing four of them.

Security personnel at the spot of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. (ANI Photo)

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The local police said that the other four were beaten to death by the farmers.

Since the incident came to light, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led UP government has been facing the heat from opposition parties. A number of leaders who were headed to Lakhimpur Kheri have been stopped and a case registered against Teni and his son.

Here are the latest developments on this big story:

• A senior police officer said that the Special Task Force (STF) has been roped in to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident. He said the STF have taken as many as six people in custody in connection with the incident.

• Punjab government civil aviation director has sought permission from Uttar Pradesh's additional chief secretary Awanish Awasthi for the landing the chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi's helicopter in Lakhimpur Kheri, news agency ANI reported. Channi has expressed his willingness to visit the site of the violence and meet the farmers, the Punjab official said in his letter.

• The Uttar Pradesh government has, meanwhile, written to Punjab chief secretary, urging not to let anyone from the state go to Lakhimpur Kheri, ANI reported.

• Shivpal Yadav and Ramgopal Yadav, brothers of Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, were stopped by the police near Lucknow while they was heading to Lakhimpur Kheri along with their supporters. They were put on a city bus, and sent to police lines.

• Earlier, his nephew and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was also stopped from going to Lakhimpur Kheri. Yadav was taken into custody outside his residence where he staged a sit-in protest.

• "We're taking this matter seriously and it is under investigation. The chief minister has said that culprits will be punished. Opposition is using the incident for political tourism and political competition as polls are around the corner," Uttar Pradesh minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.

• The Uttar Pradesh government has started negotiations with the farmers, requesting them to end their protest. Additional chief secretary Devesh Chaturvedi is leading the negotiations from government's side.

• The farmer groups have put forward four main demands during the negotiations. These are: Resignation of Ajay Mishra Teni, arrest of his son, ₹10 million compensation for the families of each of the four farmers killed in the incident, and government job for one member from each family of the deceased farmers. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella group of farmers, has even written to President Ram Nath Kovind, seeking the dismissal of the Union minister.

• The Union minister has, however, claimed that his son was not present at the spot and only the jeep owned by him ferrying BJP workers was present there.

• A police vehicle was earlier set on fire by a mob near Samajwadi Party office on Vikramaditya Marg in Lucknow.