By Online Desk
Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra was released from Lakhimpur jail on Tuesday evening after fulfilling bail conditions pronounced by the Allahabad High Court.
He has been released from jail after completion of the procedure, Lakhimpur Kheri Jail Superintendent PP Singh told reporters. Ashish Mishra was lodged in jail since October last year in the case related to the killing of four farmers in the violence that had erupted in course of farmers’ agitation in Tikonia in the district.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had last week granted bail to Ashish Mishr. The accused had moved the Lucknow bench of the High Court seeking insertion of sections 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC that were ‘inadvertently’ not mentioned in the high court order as the jail authorities would not release him due to the omission.
“It is a mere typographical error, while the court already considered the bail under these sections too and, as such, the same may be allowed making the addition of these sections in the order,” said the application.
The court had questioned some of the charges including firing at protesters saying: “…during the course of the investigation, no such firearm injuries were found either on the body of any of the deceased or on the body of any injured person.” The court also questioned police claims Ashish incited the driver of the SUV to run over the farmers.
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Ashish Mishra was arrested on October 9 last year by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was probing the incident. “Ashish Mishra has been arrested as he was not cooperating during the interrogation and did not answer a few questions,” DIG Upendra Agarwal had told reporters at the time of his arrest.
An FIR was registered against him and a few others over the incident, but the UP police did not move against him until the Supreme Court decided to take up the matter.
Meanwhile, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesman, Rakesh Tikait, has said the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will approach the Supreme Court over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence episode in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.
The police were pressured to weaken the case and this led to Ashish Mishra’s bail, according to farmers’ leaders.His arrest came a day after the apex court expressed its dissatisfaction with the UP government over the action taken in the case.
Ashish turned up for questioning the second time he was summoned, and after 12 hours the nine-member SIT headed by DIG Agarwal, arrested him.
It may be recalled that eight people were killed on October 3, 2021, after violence erupted during a farmers’ protest, claiming the lives of farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Four of the dead were farmers who were mowed down by a speeding SUV, belonging to Ashish Mishra. One journalist covering the incident was also killed in the incident.
Three BJP workers were killed in retaliatory violence.
The Special Investigation Team probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident has said that there was a planned conspiracy to murder protesting farmers.
