After day-long questioning, Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra, was arrested late on October 9 for non-cooperation during interrogation for the Lakhimpur Kheri case, a senior police officer said.

DIG in-charge of the probe Upendra Agrawal said Mr. Ashish Mishra did not cooperate during interrogation and was not willing to share certain things asked of him. “For non-cooperation and evasive reply, on these grounds we are taking him into custody and arresting him,” Mr. Agarwal said.

Mr. Ashish Mishra would be produced before court, said the officer, adding that police would do a sustained custodial interrogation of the accused. Mr. Ashish Mishra is named as the accused in the murder case lodged by farmers after cars belonging to his father’s convoy ran over protesting farmers in Tikonia on October 3.

Earlier in the day, he appeared for questioning before police in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, resulting in the death of eight persons, in which he is accused of murder. Mr. Ashish Mishra, alias Monu went to the Crime Branch office after the police issued him a second summons as he failed to turn up on October 8.

Till late on October 9, there was no official confirmation from police on further action regarding the questioning or whether Mr. Ashish Mishra would be arrested amid demands by Opposition parties as well as farmers for his arrest. Despite several requests by journalists waiting outside the Crime Branch office, police officers did not reveal any details of the questioning or indicate for how long it would go on.

Mr. Ashish Mishra was asked by police to appear before them at 11 a.m.

On October 8, Mr. Ajay Kumar Mishra told reporters in Lucknow that Mr. Ashish Mishra did not go to the police as he was unwell and that he was lodged in their Shahpur Kothi residence.

The Uttar Pradesh Police on October 7 arrested two persons and issued a summon to Mr. Ashish Mishra for questioning in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

Mr. Ajay Kumar Mishra maintained that his son was not at the site of the incident or in any of the cars that mowed down the farmers. Mr. Ashish Mishra was at their ancestral village Banveerpur attending the annual wrestling event organised by the family, the Minister said.

“My son would also have been killed had he been here,” he said, adding that hundreds of spectators present at Banveerpur on the day of event were willing to submit their affidavits about Mr. Ashish Mishra’s presence.

He said the allegations against his son were “fake”. Mr. Ajay Kumar Mishra said that the probe in the case was being done in an impartial manner as even though he was a Minister an FIR had been lodged against his son.

Mr. Ajay Kumar Mishra said “riotous elements” masked as farmers had attacked the BJP workers during the incident.