Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra, was detained on Saturday by a SIT of Uttar Pradesh Police after being interrogated for over 12 hours in connection with the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri riots.
According to the police, Ashish refused to cooperate during the questioning and even dodged some of the inquiries. ‘Ashish Mishra has been arrested as he was not cooperating during the interrogation and didn’t answer few questions. He will be produced before the court,’ said DIG Upendra Agarwal, Saharanpur.
The arrest comes a day after the state government’s actions in the case were criticised by the Supreme Court. Ashish Mishra was served with a second summons and appeared before the special investigation team (SIT) at roughly 10.30 am on Saturday, after failing to attend for interrogation the day before.
The minister’s son was identified in an FIR, following claims that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down four farmers opposing UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit last Sunday. Angry farmers then allegedly lynched two BJP workers and their driver. The event, which has sparked political controversy and put the BJP government on the back foot in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, also claimed the life of local journalist Raman Kashyap.
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However, Ashish Mishra and his father have rejected the accusation, claiming that they can provide proof that he was not present at the incident. Videos of the event, which were extensively circulated by Opposition leaders on social media, clearly indicated that one of the convoy’s SUVs – which belonged to the minister’s family – drove over defenceless protestors at the scene of the violence.
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