People take a look at the overturned SUV which destroyed in yesterdays violence during farmers protest, at Tikonia area of Lakhimpur Kheri district.
Four more persons, including a BJP worker, were apprehended by the Uttar Pradesh police and SWAT team of the crime branch on Monday in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident, taking the number of total arrests so far to 10, said officials.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra along with others accused in the case were also sent into judicial custody from police custody on Monday, they said.
Eight persons, including four farmers, were killed in the October 3 violence during a farmers' protest in the Tikonia area of the district, with the incident snowballing into a major political controversy over the alleged involvement of the Union minister's son.
“Four persons were arrested on Monday by the Crime Branch of the Lakhimpur Kheri police along with the SWAT team. The SIT investigators and other senior officials are interrogating the accused and further probe is underway,” the UP police said in a statement.
Those held have been identified as Sumit Jaiswal, Shishi Pal, Satya Prakash Tripathi alias Satyam and Nandan Singh Bisht, the police said.
According to the police, the SWAT team also recovered a revolver in the name of Satya Prakash Tripathi and three live cartridges.
So far, the special investigation team (SIT) has arrested 10 persons including the key accused Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shekhar Bharti and Latif.
Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Shekhar Bharti and Latif were remanded in judicial custody on Monday after nearly a fortnight in police custody, the officials said.
An FIR was lodged at the Tikonia police station on October 3 over the episode in which the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra 'Teni' was named as accused besides 15 to 20 unnamed persons.
The next day, a counter-FIR was lodged at the same police station on the basis of a complaint by Sumit Jaiswal, who has now been arrested.
In the complaint, Jaiswal, a resident of Ayodhyapuri, identified himself as a BJP worker who was on his way to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya for a wrestling event at Banbirpur, the native village of the union minister, when the violence broke out.
(with PTI inputs)
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