Two arrested, Minister’s son summoned in UP case
The UP police on Thursday made the first arrests in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence taking into custody two people and also summoned Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, an accused, for questioning on Friday, hours after the Supreme Court set the same day for the state government to explain who are the accused in the FIR and whether or not they have been arrested.
As the top court described as unfortunate the incidents on October 3 in which eight people including four farmers were killed, the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, which is facing heat over the violence ahead of the Assembly elections, announced it has constituted a one-member judicial commission.
Retired Allahabad High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava has been asked to complete the probe into the violence. The announcement of the commission came hours before the apex court was to take up the Lakhimpur Kheri matter. A statement by the police said Luvkush of Banbirpur village and Ashish Pandey of Nighasan tehsil were arrested after questioning. An FIR under section 302 IPC (murder) was earlier registered against Ashish Mishra and others at the Tikonia police station.
A notice was also pasted at Minister Ajay Mishra’s house in Lakhimpur city under Section 160 of the CrPC on Thursday asking his son to present himself at 10 am on Friday at the Crime Branch office in police lines in Lakhimpur city to present any oral, written or digital evidence.
