They are also demanding the resignation of the Union Minister Ajay Mishra. Meanwhile, the farmer unions have stepped up the pressure for the arrest of Ashish Mishra releasing a calendar of protest in October if Ashish is not arrested in the violence case.
His counsel accompanied him during the questioning.Īshish Mishra had failed to show up in response to the first summon notice of Thursday and missed his 10 am deadline for his appearance on Friday. Mishra was taken to a room inside the crime branch office where police personnel investigating the matter began questioning him.
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In fact, the notice was served on Ashish under Section 160 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC) and he was asked to appear in person and present evidence that he is aware of the incident.Īshish was accompanied by his counsel Awadesh Singh and Lakhimpur Sadar MLA Yogesh Verma of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They were shouting slogans in support of the Ashish Mishra claiming that he was innocent and was being framed in the violence case.Īshish Mishra appeared before the police authorities in response to the second summon notice pasted by the cops at his residence on Friday asking him to appear in connection with the violence that killed eight people.
There was a huge crowd of local BJP workers at the office of the Lakhimpur police crime branch. He along with 15-20 unidentified persons has been booked under sections pertaining to murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting, etc. So far, the Lakhimpur police have arrested two persons – Luvkush and Ashish Pandey-said to be the close aides of Ashish Mishra, in connection with the violence.Īshish Mishra has been named as main accused in the FIR lodged by the farmers in connection with the Sunday violence. However, the informed sources claimed that Ashish could not convince the probe team about his whereabouts at the time of incident. VIEW GALLERY | 'Fascism', 'Jallianwala Bagh', 'Hitler': Lakhimpur Kheri farmers' killing leads to strong reactions by Opposition leaders He reportedly insisted that he was at a 'dangal' (wrestling competition) taking place at Banbirpur village, some 3-4 km away from Tikunia, when the violence broke out. The sources said that during his questioning, Ashish claimed his innocence by reiterating that he was not present at Tikunia, the site of the incident.
His interrogation began soon after as the SIT had come prepared with a 40-question list to quiz Ashish over the violence which claimed eight lives including four farmers. Police sources also confirmed that Ashish could not present satisfactory proof to show that he was not in the vehicle.Īshish Misra appeared before the Special investigation team of crime branch set up by Uttar Pradesh Police to probe into Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, on Saturday at around 10:40 am. Moreover, it was also claimed that Ashish Mishra himself was driving the Thar Mahindra SUV which ran over the group of protesting farmers. However, the police sources said that the evidence pointed towards his presence on the spot of violence on Sunday. Ashish Mishra (centre), accused in the Tikonia violence case.