New Delhi: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Uttar Pradesh police tasked with investigating the October 3 violence at Lakhimpur Kheri submitted a 5,000-page chargesheet to a local court on Monday, January 3, NDTV reported.Eight people were killed in the incident, including four farmers and a journalist who were mowed down by a car allegedly being driven by Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Kumar Misha’s son Ashish. Among the three other victims were two BJP workers who were killed in the ensuing melee.Ashish was the prime accused in the case in relation to which the chargesheet has been filed, arriving at the court of the chief judicial magistrate of Lakhimpur town in a locked trunk this morning. Ashish was among the thirteen people named in the FIR by the UP police in October last year and was arrested one week later, only after Supreme Court intervention.The news organisation quoted one Mohammad Amaan, the lawyer representing the farmers as saying, “We do not feel a proper investigation has been done.” Amaan noted that Union minister Ajay Mishra had also been named in the complaint, yet there was no mention of him or the SUV registered in his name (which was allegedly used in the incident) in the SIT report. “We are not satisfied with the investigation,” Amaan said.In December last year, the SIT had told the court that the Lakhimpur Kheri incident was not born out of “negligence or callousness” but was instead a “planned conspiracy”. The team subsequently wrote the court noting that charges of attempted murder, voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons and acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention should be added against the thirteen accused.Also read: Lok Sabha Witnesses Opposition Protest Over SIT Report on Lakhimpur KheriIn the months following the incident, both the Union and the Uttar Pradesh government have faced criticism both from opposition parties as well as civil society. The Lok Sabha also saw several disruptions and adjournments over opposition protests demanding the issue be discussed and Ajay Mishra be sacked.Once the court accepts the charges, it will designate a date for the trial into the matter to begin.
