Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Charges framed against Ashish Mishra, 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 6

A Lakhimpur Kheri court on Tuesday framed charges against Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish and 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy and certain other offences in the case of mowing down of protesting farmers in October last year.

Accused Ashish Mishra and 12 others have been charged under IPC sections 147 and 148 related to rioting, 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 427 (mischief) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), and Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act.

13 of the 14 accused in jail

• Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish, the main accused in the case, and 12 other accused are in jail
• 14th accused, charged with destroying evidence, is on bail

Additional District Judge Sunil Kumar Verma will now take up the matter on December 16 when the trial is expected to commence against the accused, advocate Mohammad Aman, who represented some of the farmers, told The Tribune.

Ashish Mishra is the main accused in the case. The other 12 accused are Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Latif Kale, Satyam, alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullas Kumar, alias Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara. All of them are in jail.

Virendra Shukla, the 14th accused, is out on bail. He has been charged with destruction of evidence under Section 201 of the IPC.

The primary object of framing of a charge is to tell the accused person precisely about what the prosecution intends to prove against him.

Accused Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Satyam, Latif Kale and Sumit Jaiswal have also been charged under various sections of the Arms Act.

On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed at Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence. (With PTI inputs)

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