Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Fair investigation cannot happen till MoS Teni holds portfolio, says Bhupinder Hooda

Ex Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda said a fair investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case cannot happen till the time the Minister of State (MoS) Ajay Mishra Teni is holding a portfolio.

New Delhi: Former Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday said a fair investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case cannot happen till the time the Minister of State (MoS) Ajay Mishra Teni is holding a portfolio. Speaking to the media agencies Hooda said, "Fair enquiry can't happen properly if MoS Teni is still holding the portfolio."

The Congress leader further said that the arrest of Teni's son, Ashish Mishra should have been made earlier, since his name was mentioned in the FIR. "Investigation should be done by a sitting judge since we have never seen someone mowing the farmers like this," Hooda added.

Ashish Mishra was arrested yesterday night and was then produced before the Judicial Magistrate. He will remain in judicial custody till Monday, following which a local court will hear the matter on whether he should be sent to police custody or not. Ashish Mishra was arrested on Saturday after 12 hours of interrogation by the Crime Branch of Uttar Pradesh Police in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

According to Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) and Monitoring Committee Chairman Upendra Agrawal, Ashish was arrested as he was not cooperating during the interrogation in the case. As many as eight people including four farmers died in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on October 3.

Two accused identified as Luvkush and Ashish Pandey were arrested earlier in connection with the incident. Bhupinder Singh Hooda will be launching the 'Vipaksh Aapke Samaksh' programme from Karnal today. After Karnal, similar programmes will be organised in other districts.

Talking about his programme, Hooda said," I will take feedback from people. We will corner the government as Khattar regime has failed and I am not going to give any speeches, but will listen to the public."

ANI