Lakhimpur Kheri, UP:

Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, has refuted accusations that he was part of the convoy that allegedly ran over farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Sunday, triggering the violence that left eight people dead.

“The programme that was happening was an ancestral one. It has been going on for around 35 years… We have a tradition that when we have guests, we send two-three vehicles to receive them… the Mahindra Thar was my vehicle, one of our workers had a Toyota Fortuner and there was a smaller car,” he told NDTV in an interview.

“I was not in the car. I was at my paternal home in Banwirpur village where a wrestling match was being organised. I was there from the morning till the end of the event,” he said.

“It’s not correct that the Fortuner mowed down farmers. The truth is that our worker went to receive the Honourable Deputy Chief Minister. The Thar SUV that was in the front was attacked with sticks and stones. The driver Hari Om was injured or may have died in that attack. The car lost its balance and overturned. That’s how these two people who are being called farmers must have been injured,” Mr Mishra added.

“People who did such things cannot be called farmers. India’s farmers are not so heartless and cruel. The fault lies with the people who are leading the farmers’ organisation. This is a democracy everyone has the right to have their say and wave their flag but peacefully,” he said.

Farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, who have been protesting over yesterday’s violence, decided to call off the protest from Ground Zero and cremate the dead after the government announced hefty compensations for the dead and the injured on Monday.

A murder case has been filed against Ashish Mishra, who, the farmers alleged, was driving one of the three vehicles that mowed down the protesters, which triggered the violence. The protesters were trying to stop the visit of his Union Minister father and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.