Lagatar24 Desk
Lakhimpur, Dec.14: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), investigating the violent incident that took place in Lakhimpur-Kheri on October 3, has submitted an application with the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) to add new provisions to the criminal code against the 13 accused, making their offence punishable as attempted murder.
The SIT investigating officer, Vidhyaram Diwakar, filed a plea in the CJM’s court last week to replace sections 279, 338, and 304A of the IPC and addition of new sections in the warrant.
The investigating officer stated in his application that the occurrence was well-planned and premeditated, rather than the result of negligence or callousness.
The investigating officer has requested to add Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 34 (Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code after replacing sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way), 338 (Whoever causes grievous hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of the IPC.
On October 3 eight people, including four farmers and one local journalist, died when an SUV belonging to Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra ran over them.
Ashish Mishra, Luvkush, Ashish Pandey, Shekhar Bharti, Ankit Das, Latif, Sishupal, Nandan Singh, Satyam Tripathi, Sumit Jaiswal, Dharmendra Banjara, Rinku Rana, and Ullas Trivedi have all been arrested by the SIT thus far.
They are being held in the district jail of Lakhimpur Kheri. Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench has allowed the state government two weeks to file a counter-affidavit on Ashish Mishra’s bail application. Additional advocate general Vinod Shahi informed the court about the ongoing investigation at the case’s hearing. The statements of a huge number of witnesses, according to Shahi,were still to be recorded.
