Lakhimpur Kheri violence: UP cops summon MoS Mishra's son

New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh police on Thursday issued summons to Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, for questioning over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and arrested two others for the incident, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed last week. The police pasted a copy of the summons outside the minister’s house, asking him to join the investigations at 10 am on Friday.

The arrested men have been identified as Luvkush of Banbirpur village and Ashish Pandey of Nighasan tehsil. IGP Laxmi Singh said that the two were earlier being questioned on the violence that erupted Sunday after four farmers were allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.

Farmers allege that the minister’s son was in one of the cars that mowed down the farmers. Ashish was named in the FIR lodged in connection with the incident on a charge of murder, as well as other IPC sections. “If Ashish Mishra does not abide by the summons, legal procedures will be adopted,” Ms Singh said.

This is the first time the UP police asked to question Ashish after an FIR against him was filed Monday. The inaction till now set off Opposition allegations that the police was shielding the high-profile accused.

The police issued the summons to Ashish soon after the Supreme Court sought details of the Special Investigation Team and the judicial inquiry commission set up by the state government on the matter. “We need to know who are the accused persons against whom you have registered the FIR and whether they have been arrested or not. Please explain this in your status report,” the court said, fixing the case for hearing on Friday.

Earlier on Thursday, the state government appointed Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, a retired Allahabad high court judge, to investigate the matter. In a notification issued by the state home department, additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said the one-man commission has to complete the inquiry within two months from the date of the issue of the notification.

In a letter, Mr Awasthi said: “In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Commissions of Enquiry Act, the governor is pleased to appoint retired High Court Allahabad judge, Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, as a single-member commission of inquiry with headquarters at Lakhimpur Kheri. The governor, being of the opinion that having regard to the nature of the inquiry to be made and other circumstances of the case, it is necessary so to do, is further pleased to direct under sub-section (1) of Section 5 of the said Act, that the provisions of sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) of Section 5 shall apply to the commission.”

AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who visited the families of the victims after she was released from detention on Wednesday, has demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court or a high court into the matter. She said the minister should resign to ensure an impartial probe. “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.”

In Punjab, state Congress chief Navjot Singh Sidhu’s convoy en route to Lakhimpur Kheri was stopped at the Haryana-UP border. Before leaving for Lakhimpur Kheri, he said: “If the accused is not arrested or does not join the investigation, I will sit on hunger-strike wherever I am.”

Rajasthan Congress workers led by state unit president Govind Singh Dotasra held a demonstration in Bharatpur district against the Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Congress chief whip in the Rajasthan Assembly Mahesh Joshi, Deeg-Kumher MLA Vishvendra Singh and other party leaders took part in the protest. Later, the protesters also burnt effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath.