Eight people, 4 of them farmers, were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday in a violence which erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Farmer leaders had claimed that Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars which they alleged knocked down some protesters.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the incident:
1. The violence broke out after two SUVs allegedly ran over over a group of anti-farm law protesters, who were protesting against the visit of Keshav Prasad Maurya at Tikonia-Banbirpur road on Sunday.
2. Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra has denied that his son was linked to the violence. "My son was present at the venue of the (UP deputy chief minister's) event and thousands of people, officers of the administration and police were present there," he said. "Some elements in farmers, who were protesting, showed black flags and pelted stones on the car which turned turtle. Two farmers came under the car and died. Three BJP workers and the driver of the car were beaten to death by some people present there. Had he (Ashish) been in that car, he would not have been alive today," he added.
3. Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Awanish Kumar Awasthi added that two FIRs have been registered, adding that the details of the sections under which they are filed were not known. "FIR has been lodged against several persons, including Minister of state for Home, Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra," Awasthi told news agency PTI. He also added that a copy of the FIR was not available yet. Mobile internet services have been suspended in parts of the violence-hit Lakhimpur district, where restrictions under CrPC section 144 -- which prohibits assembly of four or more people -- has also been imposed, according to officials.
4. "The farmers had planned to gherao the helipad to stop the arrival of the ministers. Once that ended and most people were on way back, three cars came... and mowed down the farmers... one farmer died on the spot and another in the hospital," said Dr Darshan Pal, a leader of the farmers' union, adding that the minister's son was in the car.
5. Farmer leaders claimed that at last one of the vehicles knocked down some farmers protesting over the contentious farm laws enacted at the Centre. The farmers' unions have also announced a protest at district magistrate offices across the country on Monday.
6. Rakesh Tikait has demanded Mishra's dismissal and the registration of a case of murder against his son and other goons. Tikait claimed that the farmers were attacked while they were returning from the Lakhimpur protest. Some of them were run over and they were also fired upon, he alleged in a video clip.
7. Opposition parties hit out at the BJP and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored judicial probe. The Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Rashtriya Lok Dal were among the parties that condemned the attack.
8. Some parties, including the Congress, also demanded immediate sacking of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, following Samyukt Kisan Morcha's allegation that his son was travelling in one of the vehicles involved in the incident.
9. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party leaders were detained in Sitapur on Monday, with the party alleging they were not allowed to meet the victims of the violence. "Priyanka Gandhi, Deepender Singh Hooda and other leaders were detained in Sitapur around 5 am. Stopping them in such a way is 'undemocratic'," Congress state President Ajay Kumar Lallu told PTI.
10. BSP supremo Mayawati demanded a judicial probe into the incident and said her party's national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra was stopped in Lucknow to prevent him from reaching Lakhimpur. "BSP's national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP S C Mishra was placed under house arrest late last night at his residence in Lucknow. It is continuing so that the party delegation under his leadership cannot reach Lakhimpur Kheri to get the correct report of the violence. This is very sad and deplorable," Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi. "Due to the involvement of two BJP ministers in the Kheri case, a proper government investigation of this incident, justice to the victims and strict punishment to the guilty does not seem possible. Therefore, this incident in which eight people have been confirmed dead so far requires a judicial inquiry. This is the demand of the BSP," she said.
