New Delhi: Farmer leader Dilbag Singh, who is a witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, was shot at by unidentified men in Uttar Pradesh late on Tuesday night. He escaped unhurt and police have begun an investigation into the incident.According to news agency PTI, the attack took place Tuesday night when Singh – the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait) district president – was returning home from Aliganj-Muda road in the Gola kotwali area in his car. Bike-borne assailants opened fire at the vehicle. Singh did not sustain any injuries in the attack.Singh is among the witnesses in the Tikunia violence of October 3, 2021 in which four farmers and a journalist were mown down by a car that was allegedly part of the convoy escorting Ashish Mishra, Union minister Ajay Mishra. The younger Mishra was arrested in connection with the incident.Three other people, some of them BJP members, were killed in retaliatory violence by the farmers, according to the police.According to Dainik Bhaskar, two other witnesses in the Lakhimpur-Kheri violence case have also been attacked in the past.Talking to PTI over the phone, the BKU leader said the miscreants punctured a tyre of his SUV owing to which he had to stop the vehicle.“The assailants attempted to open the doors and windows of the SUV. When failed, they fired two shots at the window pane of the driver’s side,” he said.Singh said he was driving the SUV and was alone.He said sensing the intentions of the attackers, he folded the driver’s seat and bent down towards the floor.In UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri, narrow escape for BKU district president Dilbagh Singh after unidentified gunmen opened fire when he was returning home on Tuesday night. Singh is also a witness in the Tikunia case of murder of 5 people who were mowed down by a convoy. pic.twitter.com/yI6KeUaDvU— Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) June 1, 2022Singh said he had sent his official gunman (provided to him by the district administration) on leave because his son had suddenly fallen ill on the day.He lodged a complaint with the Gola kotwali police soon after the attack.He added that he had also informed BKU-Tikait spokesperson Rakesh Tikait about the incident. Tikait was attacked at a press conference in Bengaluru on May 30, while black ink was also smeared on his face.Tikait was one of the prominent leaders who led the charge against the Centre’s farm laws, which were repealed by parliament in November 2021. Many farmer groups opposed the laws saying they would pave the way for the corporatisation of agriculture. The Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which occurred on October 3, 2021, took place as farmers were participating in a protest against Ajay Mishra and other BJP leaders.Meanwhile, additional superintendent of police (ASP) Arun Kumar Singh told PTI that on the complaint of Dilbag Singh, an FIR under appropriate sections of IPC had been lodged.He said forensic teams had been sent to the spot to examine the vehicle and the crime scene and collect evidence.He further said police were investigating the case and efforts were on to identify the attackers.The ASP added that the BKU-Tikait district president sent his gunman on leave on his own without intimating the senior police authorities. “If the matter of leave to his gunman had been intimated to us, we would have provided him another gunman as an alternative arrangement,” he said.(With PTI inputs)