Lakhimpur violence: Ashish Mishra denied bail, two more arrested

Lucknow: A court in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday denied bail to Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra in connection with the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3, PTI reported.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of UP Police, meanwhile, arrested two more persons — 38-year-old Ankit Das and 37-year-old Lateef alias Kala — in connection with the incident, taking the total number of arrests in the case to six.

Senior prosecution officer (SPO) SP Yadav told PTI that Chief Judicial Magistrate Chinta Ram rejected the bail applications of Ashish Mishra and his alleged accomplice Ashish Pandey.

Ashish Mishra, who was arrested on October 9 by the special investigation team after 12 hours of questioning, had been sent to three days in police custody from Tuesday.

Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the violence last week during a protest against the Centre's new agriculture laws. Farmer bodies have alleged that a vehicle that was part of Ajay Mishra's convoy ran over the protestors. They have claimed that the car belonged to Ashish Mishra.

The court also remanded Shekhar Bharti, arrested on Tuesday, in police custody for three days.

One Ankit Das, who is said to be a close friend of Ashish Mishra, appeared before the SIT at the crime branch office in Lakhimpur earlier on Wednesday.

The investigators had summoned Das for questioning in connection with the October 3 violence that had left eight people, including four farmers, dead.

Das is the nephew of former minister Akhilesh Das and the black SUV which allegedly knocked down the four farmers is said to be owned by him.

At around 11 AM, Das along with a team of lawyers arrived at the crime branch office in the reserved police lines area, the police said.

On Tuesday, Das and one other identified as Latif had moved an application for surrender before the chief judicial magistrate.