Union Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra Teni’s son, Ashish Mishra, was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on Thursday in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, in which eight people including four farmers were killed.
The development comes on a day when voting has begun for phase one of the seven-phase UP assembly elections across 58 constituencies. Here’s a timeline of the last year’s October 3 incident that led to massive outrage in the country.
1. Eight persons Killed: On October 3, 2021, as farmers gathered in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri to protest Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit with black flags, a car that belonged to Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s convoy and was allegedly being driven by his son Ashish Mishra, is said to have driven over and crushed to death eight persons, including four farmers.
2. Violence Erupts: Amid the news of the incident, violence ensued in the area with angry farmers allegedly torching a vehicle reportedly belonging to the minister’s convoy. There were also reports of firing at the spot.
3. Minister Insists His Son Not Involved: While the farmers said that the minister’s son deliberately drove over the protesting farmers, the minister denied the allegations and said his son was not present at the spot. He said that vehicles going to receive the deputy chief minister were attacked with stones by farmers and this led to the driver losing control of the vehicle. The minister said that three BJP workers were lynched and killed. Four accused, including Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish, were arrested in the case on October 9.
4. CM Yogi Calls Incident Unfortunate: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath called the incident “unfortunate”. A statement by the Uttar Pradesh government said, “Chief Minister had expressed grief in the Lakhimpur incident. He called the incident very unfortunate. Uttar Pradesh government will investigate the matter in detail and will take strict actions against the culprits.”
5. Opposition, Farmer Leaders Slam State Govt: The incident drew harsh criticism from Opposition leaders and farmers leaders. While the Bhartiya Kisan Union said on Twitter, “The protesting farmers were run over by car of Union Minister Teni’s son, three farmers have died, Tejinder Singh Virk is also injured. Rakesh Tikait is leaving Ghazipur,” former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav said, “It is a very inhuman and cruel act to trample the farmers peacefully opposing the agricultural laws by the son of the Minister of State for Home of the BJP government. UP will not tolerate the oppression of arrogant BJP people anymore. If this situation continues, then the BJP in UP will neither be able to walk nor get off the vehicle.” Former Punjab CM Amarinder Singh said, “Violence or provocation of violence is no solution to any problem. Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi condemned the incident and shared his condolences with the “bereaved families in this hour of grief.” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the “sacrifice” of those involved in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident “will not go in vain.”
6. Nation-wide protest: The Samyukta Kisan Morcha called for a nation-wide protest outside the offices of district magistrates and divisional commissioners across India over the incident.
7. Priyanka Gandhi Arrested: On October 4, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was detained by the Uttar Pradesh police as she tried to visit Lakhimpur Kheri. She had a brief altercation with the police in Lucknow. She was formally arrested the next day for violating Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code among other charges. Other Opposition leaders were also stopped from going to Lakhimpur Kheri. Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel did a dharna while sitting on the floor of the Lucknow airport when he was stopped from leaving the airport.
8. Video of Incident Goes Viral: A viral video of the incident that apparently showed a black SUV mowing down the protesting farmers raised further questions about the incident. The video, tweeted by Priyanka Gandhi tweeted the 29-second showed the black SUV being driven into a group of farmers followed by another vehicle. It also raised questions about Teni’s version of the events where he said the farmers had attacked the vehicle.
9. UP Govt Sends Report to Centre: On October 6, Uttar Pradesh government sent a report to the Centre on the Lakhimpur violence expressing political concerns over the incident. Sources told News18 that the report details the car running over farmers, assault on the BJP workers and the reasons for route diversion in Lakhimpur. Sources said that the UP government raised concerns in the report which was submitted before the Union Home Ministry.
10. SC Tells UP Govt to Give Protection to Witnesses: The Supreme Court on October 26 directed the Uttar Pradesh government to grant protection to the witnesses of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana asked the UP government to record the statements of other relevant witnesses before judicial magistrates under Section 164 of the CrPC. The bench also asked the UP government to convey its concerns to forensic labs and experts on preparation of reports on electronic evidence of the incident.
11. Two More Arrests: Two more persons were arrested on January 2, taking the total number of arrests to six, in connection with FIR number 220 which pertains to the killing of BJP workers Shubham Bajpai and Shyam Sundar Nishad and driver Hariom by an agitated mob after a car ran over four farmers. A journalist was also among the eight killed in the violence. “Those arrested on Saturday in FIR number 220 were identified as Kawaljeet Singh of Khairatiya village under Tikunia police station area and Kamaljeet Singh of Babaura under Palia police station,” the the Special Investigation Team (SIT) said in a statement.
12. SIT Files 5,000-page Charge Sheet: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the cases files a 5,000-page charge sheet in the court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) had omitted the name of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni — earlier named as conspirator — and included the name of Virendra Shukla, who is the brother-in-law of the minister. Sources in the SIT, however, said a supplementary charge sheet will be filed after enough evidence is collected against ‘some more people’.
13. Court Reserves Order on Bail Plea: On January 18, the Allahabad High Court reserved its order on the bail plea of Ashish Mishra alias Monu and reserved its order on Mishra’s plea after concluding the hearing through video-conferencing. The counsel appearing on behalf of Mishra told the court that his client was innocent and there was no evidence against him that he incited the driver of a vehicle to crush the farmers. Opposing the plea, Additional Advocate General VK Shahi said at the time of the incident, Mishra was in the car that crushed the farmers under its wheels.
14. Son of Deceased Farmer Says Will Contest Against Ajay Mishra: On February 5, son of a farmer killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident said that he has declined an offer of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress to contest in the assembly polls and, instead, has asked them to field him in the 2024 Parliamentary election against the minister himself. Jagdeep Singh is the eldest son of Nachhatar Singh, one of the eight people who were allegedly mowed down in the district during a farmer demonstration.
15. Ashish Mishra Gets Bail: The Allahabad high court on February 10 granted bail to Ashish Mishra, the key accused in the case.
Read all the Latest India News here
Comments
0 comment