SIT files chargesheet in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, names MoS Ajay Misra's son as prime accused

The Special Investigation Team probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case has filed a chargesheet in connection with the case on Monday.

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NEW DELHI: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case has filed a lengthy chargesheet against 14 accused in connection with the case on Monday.

According to reports, the SIT has named Union Minister of State (MoS) Ajay Misra Teni's son Ashish as a prime accused in its 5,000-page chargesheet in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which claimed eight lives.

Uttar Pradesh: SIT files chargesheet against 14 accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

"Name of one more person, Virendra Shukla, has been added in the chargeseet. He has been charged under Section 201 of IPC," prosecution lawyer says — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) January 3, 2022

The filing of the chargesheet comes almost three months since the incident took place in Tikunia village of Lakhimpur Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh on October 3 last year.

Four farmers and a journalist were killed after they were allegedly mowed down by a vehicle. Three BJP workers were also killed in retaliation by an angry mob.

In November, the Supreme Court had reconstituted the SIT and added new members, IPS officers S.B. Shiradkar, Preetinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan, along with retired judge of Punjab and Haryana high court Rakesh Kumar Jain, to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

An FIR with charges of murder and rioting was initially registered against `unidentified farmers` based on the complaint of BJP worker Sumit Jaiswal, who is a co-accused along with Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni`s son, Ashish Mishra, in connection with the deaths of four farmers and a journalist during the violence.

So far 13 accused, including Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra Monu, have been sent to jail. While Ashish Mishra was arrested on October 10, Lavkush and Ashish Pandey, close aides of Ashish Mishra, were arrested on October 7. Both were sent to judicial custody on October 8 last year.

The alleged involvement of Ashish Mishra’s son in the Tikunia incident has given way to attacks on the ruling BJP party ahead of the crucial assembly polls to be held this year in Uttar Pradesh. Political parties have been demanding the resignation of Union MoS Ajay Mishra Teni alleging that a fair probe was not possible in the case without his resignation.

Ashish Mishra and his close aides are accused of firing and mowing down the farmers under the wheels of a Thar jeep. After the incident, on October 4, an FIR was registered against Ashish Mishra and many others at Tikunia police station in Lakhimpur Kheri.