New Delhi: While an FIR has been registered against Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son and several other persons in connection with the Lakhimpur violence that left eight persons dead, MoS Misra held a press conference reiterating his stand that allegations against his son Ashish Mishra are "baseless"
While 8 people including four farmers died in the Lakhimpur violence that took place on Sunday night, Ajay Mishra said, "BJP workers were attacked & killed with sticks & swords. Videos show some attackers asked our workers to say that I had asked them to mow down farmers. Allegations against my son are totally baseless. Had he been there, he would have been killed."
He further demanded that Rs 50 lakhs should be given to the families of each BJP worker who was killed yesterday and the matter should be investigated either by CBI, SIT, or by a sitting/retired judge, and strict action should be taken against the culprit.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced a compensation of Rs 45 lakhs and a govt job to the families of 4 farmers who died in Lakhimpur Kheri yesterday. The injured will be given Rs 10 lakhs. FIR will be registered based on farmers' complaints, reported ANI quoting UP ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar.
Kumar also confirmed that a retired high court judge will probe the matter which was the demand of the farmers' union and many opposition leaders.
However, the Yogi Adityanath government has not announced any compensation for the other four victims of the Lakhimpur clash who were reportedly BJP supporters
Two FIRs have been filed on the incident till now but details of the sections under which the cases have been registered were not immediately known.
Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, told PTI that "FIR has been lodged against several persons including Minister of state for Home, Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra".
He said a copy of FIR was not available yet, details of the sections on which it was registered were not known.
Eight people were killed on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Four of the dead were people in the cars, apparently a part of a convoy of BJP workers who had come to welcome the UP minister. They were allegedly thrashed to death.The four others were farmers, officials said.
Farmer leaders had claimed that the minister's son Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars which they alleged knocked down some protesters who were opposing the deputy CM's visit.
However, Ajay Mishra said he and his son were not present at the spot as alleged by some farmer leaders and he has photo and video evidence to prove it.