Mishra in judicial custody, cops scan CCTV in UP violence probe

LUCKNOW / LAKHIMPUR KHERI: The Uttar Pradesh Police team investigating the October 3 violence at Lakhimpur Kheri visited a fuel pump on Sunday on the Tikunia-Banbirpur Road, close to the violence site, to see if CCTV cameras installed there captured the incident, said officers aware of the development.

The Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday arrested Ashish Mishra, son of junior home minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, on charges of murder in connection with the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, where a vehicle, reportedly owned by Ajay Kumar Mishra, mowed down protesters while they were returning from a demonstration in Tikunia village. Farmers allege that Ashish Mishra was in the lead car that ran over people. The junior home minister and his son deny the allegation.

A local court has remanded Ashish Mishra in 14 days’ judicial custody. The police will produce him before the court again on Monday and seek his remand.

A police officer privy to the investigation said the nine-member team headed by deputy inspector general (DIG) Upendra Agarwal tried to establish the sequence of events based on the CCTV feed. “The probe team also visited Banbirpur, the village of the minister, and recorded the statements of several people there,” the officer added.

Additional director general (law and order) of police Prashant Kumar said on Sunday that Lakhimpur police have applied for the custody remand of Mishra to question him further and that he was arrested after he couldn’t give satisfactory answers during interrogation.

Another police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that Mishra submitted multiple videos about his presence in the village but could not produce an alibi for 64 minutes—2.36pm to 3.40pm on October 3. He said Mishra’s cellphone was seized and a video recording of the entire process was done by the probe team.

Meanwhile, Lakhimpur Kheri district jail superintendent P P Singh said Mishra was kept in quarantine barrack number 21 designated for new jail inmates.

Earlier on Thursday, ADG Kumar had said the police identified six people as accused— three of them died in the violence, two others named Luv Kush and Ashish Pandey who was arrested on Thursday, and Ashish Mishra. Another accused remains to be identified.

But people familiar with the case said the names of two more people have surfaced — former Union minister Akhilesh Das’ nephew Ankit Das and one Sumit Jaiswal.

They were alleged with Mishra in his SUV at the time of the incident. Police are looking for them.