Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, was sent to a 14-day judicial custody by a local court after he was arrested late on Saturday in connection with the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district .
A remand petition for his police custody would be heard on Monday, said a senior police officer.
After day-long questioning extending to 11 hours, Mr. Ashish Mishra alias Monu was arrested for non-cooperation during interrogation.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) in-charge of the probe Upendra Agrawal said that Mr. Ashish Mishra did not cooperate during interrogation and was not willing to share certain things asked of him. “For non-cooperation and evasive reply, on these grounds, we are taking him into custody and arresting him,” Mr. Agarwal told reporters after the arrest.
On Sunday, in a press statement, the U.P. police added that Mr. Ashish Mishra’s replies during questioning were “not satisfactory”.
Mr. Ashish Mishra is named as the accused in the murder case lodged by farmers after cars belonging to his father’s convoy ran over protesting farmers in Tikonia on October 3. Eight persons died on the incident — four farmers, three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers including a driver, and a local scribe. Mr. Ashish Mishra was named in an FIR for murder, criminal conspiracy, rash driving, and death by negligence, among other charges.
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The BJP MP from Pilibhit, which adjoins Lakhimpur Kheri in the Terai belt, Varun Gandhi, meanwhile, said that there was an attempt to turn the Lakhimpur Kheri incident “into a Hindu versus Sikh battle”.
Mr. Varun Gandhi tweeted: “Not only is this an immoral & false narrative, it is dangerous to create these fault-lines & reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal.We must not put petty political gains above national unity.” In recent months, he has spoken in favour of the protesting farmers on several occasions.
On Saturday morning, Mr. Ashish Mishra went to the Crime Branch office in Lakhimpur after the police issued him a second summon as he failed to turn up for the first one on Friday. Mr. Ashish Mishra was then asked by the police to appear before them at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The police earlier arrested two persons in the case.