Famers' meet in Lakhimpur Kheri today to decide 'next move'
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 May, 2022 10:13 AM
Lakhimpur Kheri, May 5 (IANS) Lakhimpur Kheri will once again become the hotbed of controversy on Thursday when representatives of 25 farmer unions from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, along with Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait, hold a key meeting in the district to discuss their "next move".
Farmers union members are also expected to meet local authorities seeking a speedy trial in the case.
Farmer leaders claim that MoS for Home Ajay Mishra Teni continues to remain in office despite past assurances from government of looking into the matter.
Teni's son Ashish Mishra is the main accused in the Kheri violence case. He had allegedly mowed down four farmers and a journalist.
Advocate Harjeet Singh, representing farmers in Kheri court, said, "Farm union leaders from four states will assemble in Kheri to support their farmer brothers lodged in jail for alleged lynching of three BJP workers. Their families said that 'officials are pressuring them in jail to change their statements against the minister's son'. Rakesh Tikait and other farm union representatives would be meeting the district magistrate and police chief."
Manjeet Dhaliwal, district president of a farm union in Shahjahanpur, said, "We demand immediate security for witnesses. Two attacks on witnesses have already taken place and there has been no action yet against the accused despite an FIR."
Further, a maha panchayat is also expected to be held in Kheri on May 10 -- the day that coincides with the next date of hearing in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, when the court is expected to frame charges against Ashish and the other accused.
Officials said the administration was in touch with the families of 32 students belonging to the Jammu division who are stranded in Ukraine. Officials said nine evacuation flights have so far brought back around 2,000 Indians stranded in Ukraine since February 26.
Bhullar was convicted and sentenced to death in 2011 in the 1993 Delhi bomb blasts case. In March 2014, however, the Supreme Court commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment owing to his ill health.
An official in Guwahati said that the Assam government so far prepared a list of 160 such students and the process of evacuating them has been going on in coordination with the External Affairs Ministry.
Addressing a virtual press conference from Romania, he said that over 4,000 students will be evacuated in the next three days. He said that six flights were operated from Bucharest to India on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Mohit Sharma, a resident of Noida, UP, holds a B.Tech Degree in Mechanical Engineering and also a post graduation in Business Management. He was working with Google as Market Research Analyst, Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operation (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police informed.
