Lakhimpur Kheri violence: BJP worker among four arrested, minister's son sent to judicial custody

Lakhimpur Kheri: The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday apprehended four more persons, including a BJP worker, over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, taking the number of arrests in the episode to 10, said officials. Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra along with others accused in the case were also sent into judicial custody from police custody on Monday, the officials said. Eight persons, including four farmers, were killed in the October 3 violence during a farmers’ protest in the Tikonia area of the district, with the incident snowballing into a major political controversy over the alleged involvement of the Union minister’s son. Four persons were arrested on Monday by the Crime Branch of the Lakhimpur Kheri police along with the SWAT team. The SIT investigators and other senior officials are interrogating the accused and further probe is underway, the UP police said in a statement. Those held have been identified as Sumit Jaiswal, Shishi Pal, Satya Prakash Tripathi alias Satyam and Nandan Singh Bisht, the police said. So far, the special investigation team (SIT) has arrested 10 persons including the key accused Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shekhar Bharti and Latif. Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Shekhar Bharti and Latif were remanded in judicial custody on Monday after nearly a fortnight in police custody, the officials said. An FIR was lodged at the Tikonia police station on October 3 over the episode in which the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ was named as accused besides 15 to 20 unnamed persons. The next day, a counter-FIR was lodged at the same police station on the basis of a complaint by Sumit Jaiswal, who has now been arrested. In the complaint, Jaiswal, a resident of Ayodhyapuri here, identified himself as a BJP worker who was on his way to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya for a wrestling event at Banbirpur, the native village of the union minister, when the violence broke out.