Lakhimpur Kheri: Investigators reviewing 147 videos for clues
Most of these videos pertaining to the Lakhimpur Kheri incident were sent by eyewitnesses on the cell phone number issued by the police
The police team investigating the Tikunia violence in Lakhimpur Kheri has received over 147 videos of the incident and the footage is being reviewed by a dedicated team of investigators for further clues, officials said.
The videos pertain to the chain of events at Tikunia on October 3 leading to an SUV ramming into peaceful protestors and the violence afterwards. Most of these videos were sent by eyewitnesses on the cell phone number issued by the police.
The incident led to the death of eight people, including four farmers and a journalist. Union minister of state for home Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra is the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. He is currently in judicial custody.
A senior member of the team of investigators, who asked not to be named, said, “The videos received are being checked for their veracity before being used as clues to bridge the sequence of events that resulted in the violence. The entire process is being done in a very scientific manner.”
The investigating team is also conducting raids to arrest key witness Sumit Jaiswal, who was believed to be in the SUV leading a convoy of three vehicles that rammed into the protestors. Jaiswal failed to appear before the police team despite being summoned.
The other accused in the case Ankit Das, Shekhar Bharti and Latif alias Kaale were sent to judicial custody after their police custody remand ended on Sunday. The investigators recovered a pistol registered in the name of Ankita Das and a repeater gun registered in the name of his gunner Latif from the residence of Ankit Das in Lucknow.
Senior police officials camping at in Lakhimpur Kheri are in touch with senior farm leaders regarding the pan-India protest announced by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Monday.
Additional director general (officiating) SN Sabat and inspector general (IG), Lucknow, Lakshmi Singh, along with 10 other Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, are camping in the district. “We are in touch with farm leaders. We have urged them to keep their protest symbolic, keeping in mind that the law and order situation in district is not disturbed,” Singh said.
Besides Lakhimpur, senior police officials are posted in several districts of west UP to maintain law and order.