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On SC prod, minister’s son called by UP police
UP Police summoned Ashish Mishra for questioning at 10am on Friday, and pasted a notice outside Ajay Mishra’s house in Lakhimpur. The notice said Ashish Mishra must appear in person.
Hours after the Supreme Court termed the Lakhimpur Kheri incident “very unfortunate” and gave the Uttar Pradesh government 24 hours to report back whether it has arrested all the accused booked for the violence that killed eight people, the UP Police arrested two people on Thursday.
However, Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, was neither detained nor arrested. Ashish Mishra, who was named in the murder FIR registered on Monday and who has been interviewed by some TV channels, has repeatedly denied the charges.
UP Police summoned him for questioning at 10am on Friday, and pasted a notice outside Ajay Mishra’s house in Lakhimpur. The notice said Ashish Mishra must appear in person.
“If Ashish Mishra does not abide by the summons, legal procedure will be adopted,” said Lucknow inspector general Lakshmi Singh.
The two arrested individuals were identified as Luvkush Rana and Ashish Pandey, both believed to be associates of Ashish Mishra, said additional director general, law and order, Prashant Kumar.
He said the police identified six people as accused — three of them dead in the violence, the two accused, and Ashish Mishra. Another accused was unidentified.
Kumar added that the forensic team had located two bullet cartridges from the spot and was examining one of the vehicles involved. Farmers allege that Ashish Mishra fired shots during the violence, a charge denied by him.
“This is a very unfortunate incident. You tell us how many accused are there and whether they have been arrested or not. You give us a status report tomorrow,” a bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, told senior advocate Garima Parshad, who appeared for the state government in the case registered by the top court on its own (suo motu) as a public interest litigation.
The bench, which also comprised justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, said that the state government’s report should also give details of the persons who lost their lives in the fateful incident and all the steps taken by the authorities ever since.
When Parshad described the incident as unfortunate, the bench retorted: “We also feel the same way. Eight people have lost their lives...the allegation is that you are not investigating properly.”
Parshad said that she needs some time to place on record the steps taken by the Uttar Pradesh government, which, she said, has also set up a judicial inquiry under a former judge of the Allahabad high court apart from registration of a first information report in the case.
At this, the bench said that Parshad should put on record her report by Friday, giving details of the deceased, status of accused as regards to their arrest and the judicial inquiry. Parshad has also been asked to gather status of a petition filed before the Allahabad high court on the same issue.
The bench also asked the UP government to ensure proper medical facilities to mother of Lovepreet Singh, who lost his life in the incident on October 3. “We have received a communication from a lawyer, Amanpreet Singh Khalsa, that mother of deceased Lovepreet Singh is very unwell... she is critical but is not getting proper medical care. You make sure she gets proper treatment immediately. Shift her to a nearby hospital,” the court told the senior lawyer.
Advocate Shiv Kumar Tripathi, one of the two lawyers whose letter to the CJI formed the basis of the court taking up the case suo motu, submitted that the interference of the apex court is imperative in view of the involvement of politicians in the ghastly incident. Tripathi said that mere registration of the FIR is not enough and that the apex court should monitor the investigation to ensure a free and fair probe against all the accused.
Since news of the violence broke on Sunday, Opposition leaders have made a beeline for the village amid rising political tensions over the incident. On Thursday, the day the state police formed a revamped nine-member team to probe the incident, former CM and chief of the Samajwadi Party Akhilesh Yadav visited the families of the deceased.
On Wednesday, the court registered the suo motu case as “In Re Violence in Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) leading to loss of life” after receiving a letter from Tripathi and CS Panda. The matter was registered as a criminal writ petition, pertaining to investigation and prosecution.
The development came on a day Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi, and other senior leaders reached the village, roughly 10km from the India-Nepal border.
Farm groups say a Mahindra Thar owned by Ajay Mishra mowed down protesters from behind while they were returning from a demonstration in Tikunia village on Sunday afternoon.
The minister and his son deny the charge and say farmers pelted the car with stones that led the driver losing control of the vehicle. They also accuse the protesters of lynching two BJP workers and the car’s driver. A local journalist was also killed. The Mishras claim Ashish Mishra was not at the site.
Some unverified videos of the incident show the Thar knocking down protesters from behind. On Wednesday, a new, clearer 45-second video of the incident showed the Thar ploughing through the farmers at high speed, with two vehicles in tow. The identities of individuals was not clear and HT couldn’t independently verify the authenticity of the clips.
