Eight people died in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri violence

Around 8 people lost their lives during the farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh on October 3. The farmers had gathered to protest over Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to Banbirpur. A speedy car crashed protesters on the spot during a protest. The peaceful protest turned into violence.

The Union minister was coming for felicitated at a prize distribution ceremony at a school in Tikunia. He was also slated to inaugurate development projects in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. Banbirpur is the native village of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra Teni, (MP of Lakhimpur Kheri). Farmers already angry with minister over his remarks during his visit to Lakhimpur Kheri on September 25, incidentally his birthday, when he addressed a farmers' gathering in his Lok Sabha constituency. The minister was shown black flags during his visit by a group of farmers. Banbirpur road was fully occupied by protesting farmers when they got the news of minister travelling by road. They blocked the Tikunia-Banbirpur road. The incident took place near a collage in Tikunia village. 8 innocent farmers died after the convoy of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra's son ran over protesting farmers. Three SUV cars rammed on them back to back. Scores of farmers had assembled for the protest. Four farmers identified as Nakshatra Singh (55), Daljeet Singh (35), Lavepreet Singh (20) and Gurvendra Singh (18) died in this mishap. Three BJP party supporters and one journalist also died after they were dragged out of the car and lynched by the protesters.

Internet services were immediately suspended in the district after the violence. An additional police team and paramilitary force were deployed in the district to maintain law and order. Section 144 under CrPc was imposed in the area. Curfew was also imposed in the district to control the situation. After this mishap, several political leaders were visited victim’s house. The impact of this violence was moderate. Many political parties condemned the Bharatiya Janata Party government. Political leaders and their supporters and farmers took out rallies against the BJP government in various parts of the country. They staged protests in different states.

The Uttar Pradesh police team detained two people for questioning related to this tragedy. The Supreme Court has also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report regarding the accused in the Lakhimpur violence case and whether any action had been taken against them.