BAREILLY: A district and sessions court on Monday rejected the bail application of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish, along with two other accused, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case that had resulted in the deaths of eight people on October 3, including four farmers and a journalist.
They were allegedly mowed down by Ashish's convoy. In retaliatory action, farmers had allegedly lynched three BJP workers.
Special prosecution officer S P Yadav said that since the investigation report has mentioned Ashish as the prime accused in the case and a special investigation team (SIT) had gathered sufficient evidence against him, bail was denied to him and two of his aides, Luv Kush Rana and Ashish Pandey.
District government counsel (DGC) Arvind Tripathi told TOI, “The defence hid Ashish's criminal history. Also, an SDM and a circle officer recorded statements saying Ashish was seen running away from the spot after the farmers were mowed down."
He said this was corroborated by over 60 farmers who had given statements that suggested Ashish's presence at the incident spot. "The statements also said that he was sitting inside the Thar jeep in the co-driver seat. His presence was further confirmed by the SIT investigation, which said that the mobile location of Ashish showed that he was there during the violence. The investigation also showed that he ran towards a cane field firing towards the farmers. The ballistic report of his rifle was also found positive in the forensic test. Since allegations against Ashish are grave and the investigation is still pending, the judge rejected the bail plea,” Tripathi explained.
Judge Mukesh Mishra had in the afternoon reserved the judgment after arguments between district government counsel Arvind Tripathi and Ashish Mishra's counsel Awadesh Singh. The judgment was later pronounced in the evening.
Advocate Harjeet Singh, who is representing the farmers, said a key contention during the arguments was disclosure of past criminal history. “The bail application was filed by the brother-in-law of Ashish and the application mentioned he didn’t have any criminal history. However, the police report said that he had two FIRs registered against him in the past at the Tikunia police station. Over 60 farmers had seen him at the spot firing from inside the jeep. We are happy his bail was rejected,” he said.
Ashish's counsel Awadesh Singh said that he will approach the high court as his client is "innocent and was framed because he is the son of a minister." He added: "The old cases against him are already closed."
