Lakhimpur violence case: Four months after arrest, Ashish Mishra out of prison on bail

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had granted Ashish bail on February 10, but he was not released as the court order didn’t mention that he was facing charges under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

#WATCH Ashish Mishra, son of MoS Home Ajay Mishra Teni, accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case released on bail pic.twitter.com/11f2CmyFCc

— ANI (@ANI) February 15, 2022

Mishra’s lawyer moved the High Court for correction in the order, stating that it has a typographical error. The High Court on Monday directed that the two sections should be added to its earlier order.

“The High Court order along with correction was issued on Monday and it was submitted to the court of Lakhimpur Kheri District Judge Mukesh Mishra. The court directed deposit of two sureties of Rs 3 lakh each and personal bonds of the same amount… After the sureties and personal bonds were deposited… the court passed the release order of Ashish Mishra,” District government counsel (Lakhimpur Kheri) Arvind Tripathi said.

Mishra is the second accused to get bail in the case. On January 11, the minister’s relative, Virendra Shukla, who was booked for the destruction of evidence, was granted bail by a local court in Lakhimpur Kheri.

On October 3 last year, a convoy of three SUVs, including a Thar owned by Ajay Mishra, ran over a group of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. Four farmers and a journalist were killed and several others were injured. In the violence that followed, two BJP leaders and the driver of the Thar vehicle were killed.

The SIT had arrested 13 persons, including Ashish Mishra, for the killing of farmers and a journalist.

On January 3, the SIT filed a chargesheet against 14, including Ashish Mishra and his uncle, Virendra Shukla.

Meanwhile, farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will approach the Supreme Court over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. —With PTI inputs