Owaisi paints communal colour to Lakhimpur violence; 'had it been Atiq and not Ashish'

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Sunday gave a communal colour to Lakhimpur violence by accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not sacking Union Minister Ajay Misra due to two reasons - his caste and the approaching elections. 

He asserted that the BJP would lose out on votes of the high-caste Hindus in the upcoming elections if Ajay Misra was sacked. Ajay Misra is the father of Ashish Misra, who has been named in the FIR and accused of murder in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. He is presently in judicial custody. 

Why is PM Modi not sacking Ajay Misra? 

Owaisi asked, "Why does Narendra Modi not remove Ajay Misra from the cabinet?" He underlined how Ajay Misra had warned the farmers and pledged to 'bring them in line'. He continued by saying, "2 days later 5 farmers are killed, why does Narendra Modi not sack him?" 

Ashish Misra was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team on Saturday over his alleged role in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people including four farmers died. The cops had quizzed Ashish Misra of his whereabouts during the violence and whether he had any evidence to prove that he was not at the spot when his vehicle mowed down farmers. DIG Upendra Agarwal, who is heading the 9-member SIT, had accused him of 'not cooperating' during the interrogation.

"Ashish Misra, son of MoS Home Ajay Misra Teni, has been arrested as he was not cooperating during the interrogation and didn't answer few questions. He will be produced before the court," DIG Upendra Agarwal, Saharanpur, said.

Ashish, as per the DIG's statement, was produced before the court on Sunday and was remanded to judicial custody until October 11. 

The AIMIM chief further asked, "Had his name been Atiq instead of Ashish, wouldn't they have run a bulldozer over his house?"

Misra, along with 15-20 unidentified accused, have been booked under sections 120B, 147, 148, 149, 279, 302, 304A, and 338 of the IPC in the violence that ensued in Lakhimpur Kheri after a car mowed down farmers protesting against the Farm Laws outside an event venue which Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was scheduled to attend on October 3.