Lakhimpur violence case: Ashish Mishra denied bail, two more arrested
Lakhimpur Kheri (UP), Oct 13: Two more persons were on Wednesday arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur violence, while a court here denied bail to the main accused, Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra.
Ankit Das and Latif alias Kale, who appeared before the Special Investigation Team (SIT), were taken in custody after questioning and produced in court which sent them in judicial remand for 14 days, official sources said.
With this, the total number of people arrested in connection with the mowing down of four farmers here on October 3 has gone to six.
While the police sought their custody for interrogation, their lawyer opposed it saying no recovery is to be done from them.
The court reserved its order on the application for police remand of the two, they said.
Senior prosecution officer (SPO) SP Yadav told PTI that Ashish Mishra and his alleged accomplice Ashish Pandey moved bail applications on Wednesday but they were rejected by Chief Judicial Magistrate Chinta Ram.
Ashish Mishra, who was arrested on October 9 by the special investigation team after 12 hours of questioning, had been sent to three days in police custody from Tuesday.
The court also remanded Shekhar Bharti, arrested on Tuesday, in police custody for three days.
Police have now arrested six people--Ashish Mishra, Luvkush, Ashish Pandey, Bharti, Ankit and Kale -- in connection with the case.
Ankit Das and Kale, who is said to be a close friend of Ashish Mishra, appeared before the SIT at the crime branch office in Lakhimpur earlier in the day.
The investigators had summoned Das and Kale for questioning in connection with the October 3 violence that had left eight people, including four farmers, dead.
Das is the nephew of former minister Akhilesh Das.
On Tuesday, Das and Kale had moved an application for surrender before the chief judicial magistrate.
Two BJP workers, a driver of the minister and a journalist were among those killed in the violence.
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BJP has history of ‘contradictory alliances’, says BK Hariprasad
Bengaluru: Congress MLC B. K. Hariprasad has launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing the party of hypocrisy over its criticism of alliance politics in Tamil Nadu.
In a post on X on Friday, Hariprasad said BJP leader B. L. Santhosh criticising the Congress party’s alliance politics in Tamil Nadu was “not just laughable, but the height of political contradiction.”
He said the Congress has always joined hands with like-minded parties to protect secular and democratic values in the country.
Hariprasad questioned the BJP over several of its past and present alliances across the country. Referring to Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tripura, Bihar and Maharashtra, he accused the BJP of sharing power with parties it had earlier criticised.
He alleged that the BJP had aligned with separatist and corruption-linked political forces in different states for political gains.
“The BJP, which speaks against alliances today, should first look at its own political history,” he said, adding that the party’s record was full of “contradictions and changing stands.”
Hariprasad also accused the BJP of using central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax Department and CBI as political tools to target opposition leaders, topple governments and influence electoral mandates.
He further claimed that the people of Tamil Nadu had strongly rejected the BJP and its ideology in the recent election.
“Congress forms alliances to protect the Constitution, secularism and national unity, while the BJP enters into alliances only for power,” he said.
