Sidhu begins ‘maun vrat’ demanding arrest of accused in Lakhimpur Kheri case
Sidhu, who paid a visit to the late journalist’s house at Nighasan in the district, said the silent agitation would continue till the accused in the case were arrested.
Congress leader Navjot Singh Sindhu on Friday sat on a ‘maun vrat’ (fasting for silence) at the residence of journalist Raman Kashyap who was killed in the violence that broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri district last Sunday.
Sidhu, who paid a visit to the late journalist’s house at Nighasan in the district, said the silent agitation would continue till the accused in the case were arrested.
Besides Kashyap, at least seven persons, including protesting farmers were killed during the clashes that took place following an agitation over the three centrally passed agri laws.
The former president of the Punjab unit of the Congress was detained for a few hours on Thursday at a police station in Saharanpur a day ago along with other state ministers and MLAs before being allowed to go ahead with their visit to the violence-hit district.
Meanwhile, the chorus for the arrest of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra has been growing with the latter failing to appear before the police on Friday despite being issued a summons. The farmers have alleged their compatriots were mowed down in a car in which Ashish was sitting. Demands for the junior home minister’s resignation have also been growing as the Opposition has alleged that a fair probe was not possible until Mishra was holding on to his post.
Amid a nationwide uproar, the Supreme Court also slammed the Uttar Pradesh government for its handling of the case and asked to apprise the top court of an alternative agency that can conduct the probe.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana, also asked the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government to direct its state police chief to ensure that the evidence in the case is protected till the time another agency takes over.
