Lakhimpur violence: Two more arrested, bail plea of Ashish Mishra rejected

PTI | ByRohit Kumar Singh, Hindustan Times, Lucknow

Oct 14, 2021 02:58 AM IST

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Former Union minister late Akhilesh Das’s nephew Ankit Das and his private gunner Latif alias Kale were arrested on Wednesday, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case while the main accused and junior home minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra was denied bail by a court

Lucknow: Two more accused, former Union minister late Akhilesh Das’s nephew Ankit Das and his private gunner Latif alias Kale were arrested on Wednesday, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case while the main accused and junior home minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra was denied bail by a court here, said senior police officials.

Ashish Mishra was named in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down four farmers during a protest in Lakhimpur. On Wednesday, two more accused, former Union minister late Akhilesh Das’s nephew Ankit Das and his private gunner Latif alias Kale were arrested. (PTI)

Ankit Das and Latif appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday. The officials said Das and his gunner were present with Mishra at the violence site in Tikunia village on October 3.

Ashish Mishra was named in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down four farmers protesting over UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to Kheri on October 3. Four others, including a journalist, Mishra’s driver and two BJP workers were also killed during the violence broke out after the incident.

With this, a total of six accused have been arrested in the case, including Mishra, his two accomplices Luv Kush and Ashish Pandey. The police claimed that three other accused, including Mishra’s driver and two BJP workers, were killed during the violence.

Meanwhile, a court in Lakhimpur Kheri denied bail to Ashish Mishra and his alleged accomplice Ashish Pandey, senior prosecution officer SP Yadav told PTI. The court chief judicial magistrate sent both to 14-day judicial custody. The court also remanded Das, his gunner Latif and his driver Shekhar Bharti, who was arrested on Tuesday, to three-day police custody beginning Thursday morning, said a press release issued by Lakhimpur Kheri police. Bharti was allegedly driving the car behind Mishra’s car that allegedly mowed down four farmers.

A police official aware of the matter said Das was arrested after multiple hours of questioning by the investigation committee led by deputy inspector general Upendra Agarwal after he appeared before it on Wednesday morning.

Before Das’s arrest, his lawyer Razi Ahmad told reporters that Das had appeared before the investigation committee after receiving the notice regarding the case. “We have not come here to surrender but to cooperate in the investigation,” Ahmad said.