BAREILLY: Cars that were part of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni’s convoy allegedly mowed down four farmers during a black flag protest at Tikunia in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday afternoon — the farmers alleged the minister’s son Ashish Mishra was leading the convoy, which Teni denied. Retaliation was swift and the angry farmers reportedly beat four BJP workers to death before setting their vehicles on fire. No FIR had been registered in either case till the time of filing this report.
“Eight people have died — four were farmers and four BJP workers. Senior officials are working out what further action will be taken in the case. It is likely that the FIRs will be registered from both sides. A transparent investigation will be conducted. The situation is peaceful and under our control,” Nighasan sub-divisional magistrate Om Prakash Gupta told TOI. Three companies of Police Armed Constabulary have been sent to the area and internet services, locals said, have been suspended. ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar had left for the village along with IG (Lucknow range) Laxmi Singh. Police didn’t confirm the number of those injured though farmers said 12 were injured by the speeding cars and 50 in lathicharge.
The protest goes back to a statement allegedly made by Teni at a public meeting at Sampoornanagar in Lakhimpur Kheri last week, a purported video of which had been doing the rounds, in which he is heard saying, with reference to the farmers’ protest, “Fix yourselves or face me. I will fix you in a matter of minutes. I am not just a minister or an MLA or an MP. Those who know me from before I became a legislator would also know I never retreat from challenges.”