Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra, who was arrested on Saturday night for mowing down farmers under his vehicle, leading to eight deaths in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh on October 3, was on Monday remanded to three-day police remand.
According to Upendra Kumar, chief of Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe the violent incident that left eight dead and several injured, Ashish was arrested on Saturday after 12 hours of questioning, as he was not co-operating with the police. Mishra was sent to judicial custody on Saturday and produced before a court today, which sent him to police remand for three days.
Kumar said Police had prepared a number of questions for Ashish, but his answers were not satisfactory. The SIT chief said Ashish could not inform or validate points regarding his whereabouts at the time and day of the incident.
Earlier, police pasted a notice outside the residence of MoS Ajay Mishra, asking his son to appear before the investigation committee. His father said Ashish did not appear on Friday due to health reasons.
Police has filed a case of murder against Mishra for running over the farmers, who were protesting against the three farm laws passed by Parliament last year. A case of murder has been filed against Mishra. Ashish earlier accepted the fact that the SUV which crushed farmers under its wheels was owned by him, but denied that he was behind the driving seat.
Ashish was issued notice under Section 160 CrPC, related to the attendance of witnesses. He was named in an FIR filed by the farmers who demanded strict action against him. The FIR said he was driving the car, which was among the three SUVs that led to the incident, killing eight people and leaving many injured.
Two accused – Luv Kush and Ashish Pandey – were arrested on Thursday. They were reportedly in the same vehicle that ran over a journalist and farmers, police said.