3 more arrested in Lakhimpur violence case, 13 so far

Three more arrests were made on Saturday in connection with the Tikonia violence in Lakhimpur Kheri which had left eight people, including four farmers, dead during a protest by farmers on October 3, officials said Saturday.

This takes to 13 the total number of arrests made so far, also including Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish, in connection with the violence.

A senior police officer identified those arrested Saturday as Mohit Trivedi of Singahi town, Ranku Rana of Barsola Kalan and Dharmendra of Chimma Tanda both under Tikonia kotwali limits.

The arrests were made after their names emerged during the interrogation of other accused in police custody, the officer added.

All the three accused would be produced in the court later in the day and the investigators would request for their 14 days police remand for further interrogation,he said.

Ashish was arrested on October 9 and is presently in police custody.

The nine other arrested accused include Bharatiya Janata Party ward member Sumit Jaiswal, Ankit Das, Latif alias Kale, Shekhar Bharti, Shishu Pal, Satya Prakash Tripathi alias Satyam, Nandan Singh Bisht, Ashish Pandey and Lavkush Rana.

Barring Ashish Pandey and Lavkush Rana, all other seven are in police custody for interrogation.

An FIR was lodged at the Tikonia police station on October 3.

The next day, a counter-FIR was lodged at the same police station on the basis of a complaint by Sumit Jaiswal, who has now been arrested.

The SIT constituted by the state police is probing the case.