The name of Union minister Ajay Mishra is again in the headlines. The agitating farmers want him to be dismissed from the Union council of ministers and his son Ashish Mishra sent back to jail. We delve into who the Mishras are and why the farmers are outraged that Ashish is ‘roaming free’.Ajay Mishra is a BJP leader representing the Kheri constituency of Uttar Pradesh and hit the headlines on 3 October, 2021 when a video started circulating on social media. The video allegedly showed an SUV ramming into an unarmed group of protesters at great speed. Protestors said that the vehicle belonged to Ashish Mishra, the minister’s son, and that it had run over the group of demonstrators after the minister had publicly threatened the farmer protestors to teach them a lesson. The minister, on the other hand, claimed that the farmers threw stones at the vehicle, which led to an ‘accident.’The video generated a lot of outrage as eight people including four farmers and one journalist were killed. Eventually, two FIRs in Lakhimpur Kheri were filed by the father of one of the victims, who said that his son was killed in a ‘premeditated’ manner as a result of a “conspiracy hatched by the minister” and his son. The FIR was registered under sections related to murder, rioting, rash driving and criminal conspiracy and a special investigation team was also set up. However, little action was taken against the father-son duo after the incident, leading to the intervention of the Supreme Court on October 8. The court slammed the UP government for not immediately arresting Ashish Mishra.“Will an accused in every part of the country be treated in the same way like the present case? Giving them an invitation that you please come? We want to question you so you kindly come,” the Supreme Court asked the UP government.Following this, Ashish Mishra was taken into custody the next day.
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