Lakhimpur Kheri district president of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) Dilbag Singh has said his vehicle was shot at by two unidentified persons on a motorbike on Tuesday while he was returning home.
Mr. Singh is also a witness in the Tikonia incident of October 3, 2021, when a convoy of vehicles allegedly involving Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra deliberately ran over a group of protesting farmers, killing four farmers and one local journalist. Three others linked to the ruling BJP were killed in alleged retaliation by the mob.
Mr. Singh said he had a narrow escape on Tuesday evening and that he was not injured in the incident which took place a few km close to his residence.
Three shots
He told The Hindu that the miscreants fired three shots. While the first hit the tyre of the running car, the other two hit the window after he stopped the vehicle.
“They fired at the tyre. I stopped the car and then they approached it from the side and tried to open the window. The car was locked. I folded my seat. They fired two shots at the window,” Mr. Singh said.
The shooters then fled from the scene, he added.
In his police complaint, Mr. Singh said the miscreants had fired with the “intent to kill’. The Lakhimpur Kheri police said a First Information Report (FIR) was being registered under the relevant Sections at the Gola police station.
Lakhimpur Kheri Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjiv Suman said prima facie there appeared to be a contradiction between the version narrated by Mr. Singh and the findings of the police during investigation so far.
Ballistic report
The district police had summoned a forensic team from Lucknow to provide a ballistic report of the shots fired and further probe the matter.
Mr. Suman said the two persons last met by Mr. Singh — Chotu and Jeetendra Verma — whom he had dropped home a few moments before the incident, had given contradictory statements. The two also claimed that two months ago Mr. Singh had told them he would fake such an incident as he was struggling to get a gun licence, said Mr. Suman. “This aspect will be investigated seriously,” said the SP.
The police would also probe how Mr. Singh sent his state-provided security gunman for two days’ leave without proper authorisation as only the district police chief or district magistrate could order that, said the SP.
