Four farmers were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri, while four others died in subsequent clashes. (File Photo/PTI)Lakhimpur Kheri Violence Latest Update Live: Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested two people after questioning them in connection with Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, has also been asked to appear before the police at 10 am on Friday. Talking to media, Lucknow IG Laxmi Singh said, “We have summoned him (Ashish Mishra) for questioning. We will record his statement, on the basis of which we will collect evidence.”
On October 3, the convoy of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra’s son allegedly ran over protesting farmers, killing four. Four more people were reported dead in the violence that followed. The Supreme Court has asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report regarding the accused in the Lakhimpur violence case and whether any action had been taken against them. “We need to know who are the accused against whom you have registered FIR & whether you have arrested them or not,” the court said Thursday.
Meanwhile, Navjot Singh Sidhu and a few other Congress leaders, who were part of a vehicle march to Lakhimpur Kheri, have been detained at Shahjahanpur police picket after their convoy was stopped at Haryana-UP border. Before leaving for Lakhimpur Kheri, Sidhu said, “If the accused (in the case) is not arrested or does not join the investigation, I will sit on hunger strike, wherever I am.”
Lakhimpur Kheri Live Updates: It’s on this stretch of road that three vehicles, including one owned by the minister, hit protesting farmers on Sunday, killing four of them. (Express Photo: Vishal Srivastav)
Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday arrested two people after questioning them in connection with Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, has also been asked to appear before the police at 10 am on Friday.
A group of Congress workers led by the party's Uttar Pradesh unit president Ajay Kumar Lallu staged a protest outside the Raj Bhawan here on Thursday, raising slogans against the state government over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.
A party spokesperson said their request for an appoint with Governor Anandiben Patel to hand over a memorandum was initially not acceded to, prompting the workers to stage the demonstration. Later, a five-member delegation which included Lallu, MLA Aradhana Mishra and MLC Deepak Singh was allowed to meet the Governor for handing over the memorandum, Congress spokesman Anshu Awasthi said. --PTI
Rajasthan Congress workers led by state unit president Govind Singh Dotasra on Thursday held a demonstration in Bharatpur district against central and Uttar Pradesh governments over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Earlier, Congress workers planned to march to Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri to protest the detention of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra but dropped the idea after she was released.
"The march from Uncha Nangla to Lakhimpur Kheri was planned because Priyanka Gandhi was under detention. Now she has been released and she has met the families (of those killed in the violence) there so we dropped the plan to march to Lakhimpur Kheri," Dotasra told PTI. --PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that the BJP leaders and their sons "have started to feel that farmers should be crushed by vehicles to deal with the agrarian movement".
A farmer was injured after allegedly being hit by a car that was part of the cavalcade of BJP’s Kurukshetra MP Nayab Singh Saini at Naraingarh in Ambala district of Haryana on Thursday.
The incident took place when the farmers had gathered at Naraingarh after receiving information regarding the arrival of Saini and Haryana Sports Minister Sandeep Singh. The farmers were protesting against the three contentious farm laws.
Saini, meanwhile, has claimed that no person was injured after being hit by his cavalcade, alleging that the protesters attacked his car. Read more
BSP supremo Mayawati said on Thursday that there is hope for justice in the Lakhimpur violence case as the Supreme Court has intervened in the matter and sought a status report from the Uttar Pradesh government. She said a delegation of the BSP led by party general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP SC Mishra will be meeting the families of the farmers killed in the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.
"The hearing started by the Supreme Court in the Lakhimpur incident gave hope to the people for relief and proper justice, as the attitude of the BJP government in this matter appeared mostly biased," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi. Her remarks came a few hours after the Supreme Court on Thursday sought a status report by Friday from the Uttar Pradesh government on the accused named by the police in the FIR and whether they have been arrested. --PTI
Uttar Pradesh Police on Thursday said Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, has been summoned for questioning in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. Talking to media, Lucknow IG Laxmi Singh said, “We have summoned him (Ashish Mishra) for questioning. We will record his statement, on the basis of which we will collect evidence.” Two other people are also being quizzed, she added.
Dharna outside the residence of Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal entered Day 3 on Thursday.
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Navjot Singh Sidhu, along with other Congress leaders, who were part of a vehicle march to Lakhimpur Kheri, have been detained at Shahjahanpur police picket after their convoy was stopped at the Haryana-UP border. They are now sitting on a dharna at the site.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu’s convoy en route to Lakhimpur Kheri was stopped at Haryana-UP border on Thursday. He was leading a vehicular march to the district to protest against the violence that took place last Sunday. Before leaving for Lakhimpur Kheri, Sidhu said, “If the accused (in the case) is not arrested or does not join the investigation, I will sit on hunger strike, wherever I am.”
Hours after BJP MP Varun Gandhi condemned the incident in Lakhimpur Kheri, in which a Union Minister’s convoy ran over and killed four protesting farmers, he was removed from the BJP National Executive. Gandhi on Thursday called for “accountability for the innocent blood of farmers” as he posted a purported video of the incident. When BJP president J P Nadda announced the 80-member National Executive of the party later in the day, Gandhi’s name was absent. The National Executive comprises the party’s top leaders, who meet to discuss key issues facing the government and shapes the organisation’s agenda. Read More
“Hum kya karte (What could we have done)?” says the father of Gurvinder Singh, having just cremated the 18-year-old, after a second post-mortem concluded he had died after coming under the wheels of one of the cars that ploughed into protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. “Whatever the doctors have said, we have to make peace with it, because we are not doctors. But goli toh lagi thi (he had definitely been shot),” Sukhvinder Singh adds.
The 48-year-old, who owns around 4 bighas of farm land in Mohraniya Navipur village in Bahraich, says: “We saw the body and it was clear he had a gunshot injury. He had an exit wound on the back of his head and entry wound on the right side of his forehead. But the second post-mortem report also says he didn’t suffer a gunshot injury, and death was accidental. How can we believe that when all the eyewitnesses are saying he was shot by someone called Monu (Union Minister of StateB for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish)? Not one, but all of them.” (Read Asad Rehman's report)
Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday appointed Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, a retired Allahabad High Court judge, to investigate the death of eight persons in Lakhimpur Kheri last Sunday. In a notification issued by the state home department, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said that the one-man commission has to complete the enquiry within two months from the date of the issue of the notification. Read More
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a high court into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and said Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, whose son is among those booked, should resign to ensure an impartial probe.
Priyanka Gandhi, who had on Wednesday met the families of three of the eight people killed in the violence, told reporters here, "In my view and that of the victims' families as well, the case should be probed by a sitting Supreme Court or high court judge, and not the retired judge." The Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a one-member commission of retired high court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava to probe the violence during a farmers' protest rally that claimed eight lives on Sunday. Before leaving for Bahraich, Priyanka Gandhi said, "I don't want to comment on the probe as it has not started yet. But I can say that for unbiased probe, the minister should resign as he has the Home portfolio and all this comes under him." (PTI)
Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu threatened to go on a hunger strike from tomorrow if the accused in the Lakhimpur case are not arrested. “If the accused is not arrested or does not join the investigation, I will sit on hunger strike, wherever I am,” he added. He is leading a march to protest against the incident on Thursday.
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report regarding the accused in the Lakhimpur violence case and whether any action had been taken against them. “We need to know who are the accused against whom you have registered FIR & whether you have arrested them or not,” the court said.
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday said Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son has not yet been arrested in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case even though evidence pointed to his role in the incident.
"As fingers are raised towards MoS (Ajay Mishra) in the BJP government, the accused in Lakhimpur case are not yet sent to jail," Yadav, who is visiting Lakhimpur to meet the aggrieved families, told reporters here outside his residence. "Those named in the FIR should go to jail. Government should take immediate action and the matter should be probed by a sitting judge of the High Court. There are videos clips, statements of eyewitnesses, the statement (of minister) in which he is threatening. As he (accused Ashish Mishra) is the son of the MoS, action has note been taken yet," he said. "Do you think farmers can get justice till he (father of accused) is MoS?" he asked. (PTI)
The Supreme Court, on Monday, clarified that it did not take up the Lakhimpur violence case suo motu as a plea was registered by two lawyers — Shiv Kumar Tripathi and C S Panda. "I think there is a communication problem", CJI N V Ramana said.
Following the constitution of a one-member commission to probe the violence and deaths at Lakhimpur Kheri, Union minister Kaushal Kishore said on Monday: “The affected families will certainly get justice. The government has ordered an investigation into the case. The families have also accepted the financial assistance provided to them by the government.”