Two people identified as Luvkush Rana and Ashish Pandey, have been arrested by UP police, four days after the violence erupted in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. Eight people were allegedly mowed down by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra's vehicle.
Meanwhile, Ashish Mishra remains untraceable according to UP police. Police said that the two arrested were close aides of Ashish and more raids were going on. The arrests have been made after the Supreme Court asked the UP government to submit a report on the incident within a day, on how many arrests have been made in connection to the case.
The SC asked for information on the people who were killed and those against whom FIR had been registered. It also asked about the arrests that were made in the case which it termed as 'unfortunate'. Chief Justice NV Ramana said, "The grievance is that you are not registering a proper FIR and a proper investigation not taking place".
The incident has triggered huge political storm as parties took aim at the ruling BJP calling for the resignation of Ajay Mishra. Amidst the chaos, political leaders were not allowed to the area citing the situation of violence.
Ajay Mishra claimed that his son was not present and the driver lost balance amidst violence as stones were pelted. However, videos have emerged that nullify the claims, showing three cars involved that hit a group of protesters who were walking, at high speed. The video also suggests that the cars were not under any attack.
