A court in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday framed charges against Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra and 12 others over the last year's violence in Lakhimpur Kheri that killed eight people.
Ajay Kumar is the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. The court has framed charges of murder, criminal conspiracy, and related offences against his son Ashish and others.
On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in 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 was seated, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
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District Government Counsel (Criminal) Arvind Tripathi told PTI that that 13 accused, including Ashish, have been charged under Indian Penal Code (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 or means), 427 (mischief) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), and section 177 of Motor Vehicle Act.
Charges under various sections of the Arms Act were also framed against Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Satyam alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Latif Kale and Sumit Jaiswal, Tripathi said.
Ashish 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.
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The 14th accused, Virendra Shukla, who is out on bail, has been charged under section 201 of IPC which is related to causing the disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen the offender.
The 14 accused will be tried in the case related to the death of four farmers and the journalist.
The primary object of framing of charge is to tell the accused person precisely about what the prosecution intends to prove against him.
(With PTI inputs)
