Judicial Commission formed to probe Lakhimpur violence
After four days of inaction in the killing of nine, including four farmers under the wheels and lynching of 4 BJP men, in Lakhimpur Kheri, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested two accused and summoned Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra for questioning.
Ashish will be questioned in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, Lucknow Range IG Laxmi Singh told reporters on Thursday morning.
Sources said the cops, who concentrated on preventing Opposition leaders from reaching the spot, acted after the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the State Government to submit status report on Friday mentioning of the investigation made so far and if any of the named accused arrested.
Interestingly, after the apex court listed the matter for hearing on Thursday morning, the State Government on Wednesday announced the formation of a one-member judicial commission headed by a retired judge of the High Court. The commission led by Pradeep Kumar Srivastava has been asked to submit a report within two months.
The Yogi Adityanath Government’s decision to appoint the single-person commission came three days after it had announced that a retired High Court judge will investigate the violence.
Sources from Lakhimpur confirmed that to show some visible “investigation” in the status report to be submitted on Friday, the police arrested two persons identified as Luvkush Rana and Ashish Pandey. The police said the two arrested are close aides of Ashish and more raids are going on to arrest the prime accused.
Half-a-dozen other suspects have been detained for interrogation in the matter, disclosed a senior officer.
Meanwhile, according to reports, Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish remained untraceable on Thursday. The cops claimed to have launched a hunt for him and had also served summons on him to report at the local police station.
Besides Ashish, another high profile accused Ankit Das, whose name came up in one of the videos and who was allegedly present in his SUV, behind the Thar jeep of Asheesh, is untraceable. Ankit is the nephew of former BSP MP Akhilesh Das.
Sources said Ankit is very close to Union Minister Ajay and was often seen with the Minister’s son Ashish.
It may be mentioned that the Lakhimpur Kheri violence has triggered a major political storm in Uttar Pradesh. The police have booked Asheesh on multiple charges, including murder and criminal conspiracy.
The Opposition leaders are raising demand for the removal of the Union Minister.
Mishra has been claiming that his son was not in the car which ran over the protesters. He claimed the driver lost the balance after stone pelting by the protesting farmers and then some protesters came under the car.
Later, his driver, along with 3 others, was lynched by the protesting crowd and the car was set on fire, the Minister has claimed.
