Ashish, 3 others arrested in case taken to scene of killings
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which nine people, including four farmers, were killed on October 3, recreated the sequence of events on Thursday with the help of four people arrested in the case, including the Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, and his friend Ankit Das.
The investigators took Ashish, his friend Das, bodyguard Latif and driver Shekhar Bharti to the site of the incident on the Tikonia-Banbirpur road under tight security and the entire area was cordoned off. During the exercise, a team of the Forensic Science Laboratory, Lucknow, was also present along with the SIT. Personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) were also deployed along with the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) jawans.
The accused were questioned about their presence on the spot even though they knew that the farmers were protesting there. The SIT arranged for three SUVs and also mannequins to recreate how the speeding vehicles mowed down farmers on that fateful day.
Ashish alias ‘Monu’ was arrested in the case on October 9 after 12 hours of questioning, and a court accepted his police custody from October 12 to 15. Bharti was arrested on October 12, while Das and Latif alias Kale were arrested on October 13.