Lakhimpur Kheri: Union minister’s son remanded in police custody again

BAREILLY: Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra, was remanded in police custody again for a period of two days by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) after being booked for allegedly killing four farmers and a journalist in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.
He was arrested on October 10. The court also remanded his co-accused, Ankit, Lateef, and Shekhar Bharti, to police custody for a period of 2 days. This is the second time that the special investigation team (SIT) has requested the court to grant police custody.
So far, 10 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in which four farmers, one journalist, and three BJP workers lost their lives, while nearly a dozen were hurt.
Special Prosecution Officer S P Yadav told TOI: “We had sought 3 days’ police custody as the investigating team wants to confront Ashish and others in the presence of Sumit Jaiswal, Shishupal (who was driving the third SUV, a white Scorpio), Nandan Singh Bisht, and Satya Prakash Tripathi alias Satyam. The four were arrested on Monday and the court had granted their custody to the police till October 24. After a long argument, the CJM granted us custody again for a period of two days. A second police custody remand is rarely granted by any court, and I have applied for the same for the first time in my career of 20 years.”
He added that statements of 12 eyewitnesses have been recorded in the court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure in connection with the FIR against Ashish Mishra and others. The people who sustained injuries are among the witnesses who were there at the spot when the vehicles mowed down the protesting farmers, he said.
Earlier on Friday, deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Upendra Agarwal was transferred as the DIG of Devipatan Range in Gonda. There was speculation that he had been transferred from the investigation. However, he clarified that he would take the new charge and will continue to investigate this case, till directed otherwise.