The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court, to supervise the Uttar Pradesh SIT's probe on day-to-day basis into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people including four farmers were killed on October 3.
The SKM also gave a call for a 'rail roko' agitation across the country from 10 am to 4 pm on October 18 and a 'mahapanchayat' in Lucknow on October 26.
The apex court has also sought details of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the judicial enquiry commission, reportedly set up by the state government.
The Special Investigation Team investigating the Lakhimpur violence case has filed a chargesheet on Monday in which one accused was added taking the tally of arrested accused to 14.
A senior police officer said bomb disposal squads have been rushed to all the places mentioned by ULFA-I but there is no report of recovery of any bomb or explosive.
Four weapons, including a rifle belonging to Ashish Mishra alias Monu Mishra, had been seized following the Lakhimpur violence. A pistol owned by Ankit Das, nephew of former Union minister Akhilesh Das, and a repeater gun, which was with Das' bodyguard Lateef Kale, were also among them.
"How can the judge go into postmortem report etc. We are hearing a bail matter, we do not want to prolong.This way of going into merits and going into wounds etc. is unnecessary for the question of bail," the bench observed.
The Uttar Pradesh Police is mulling over slapping the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the six people arrested for the rape and murder of two Dalit sisters in the state's Lakhimpur Kheri.
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Two more persons were on Wednesday arrested in connection with the Lakhimpur violence, while a court here denied bail to the main accused, Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra.
A police outpost in-charge has also been suspended for not heeding to the family's complaint, in which they had alleged that the woman was sexually assaulted.
Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra, arrested for his alleged role in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, was on Friday remanded in police custody for two days.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Saturday that they have not received any message from the Centre for talks to address their issues and said a group of 101 farmers will again begin their march to Delhi on December 8.
Police Lakhimpur Kheri on Tuesday arrested one more person in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and produced him in a court, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody.
The Punjab Police chief, Gaurav Yadav, and a senior officer from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Mayank Mishra, visited fasting farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal at the Khanauri border point between Punjab and Haryana. They enquired about his health and heard his demands. Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death since November 26 to press the Centre to accept the agitating farmers' demands, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. The visit came after the Supreme Court directed the Centre and Punjab government representatives to meet Dallewal and provide him medical help.
Bhartiya Kisan Union-Tikait leader Dilbag Singh, a witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, was allegedly attacked by two unidentified men in Lakhimpur Kheri, the police said on Wednesday.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers will embark on a foot march to Delhi at 1 pm on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said on Thursday.
The minister then visited the residence of Shah where he closeted for about half an hour.
The mother of the two girls alleged that they were murdered and accused three youths from the neighbouring village in Nighasan police station limits of abducting and killing them.
Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, was produced before a court here late on Saturday night, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody in connection with the October 3 Lakhimpur violence.
A 'jatha' of 101 farmers Friday began its foot march to Delhi from their protest site at Shambhu border, but was stopped a few metres away by a multilayered barricading.
The Pilibhit MP, who was recently dropped from the BJP national executive, said the struggle for justice in Lakhimpur Kheri is about the "cruel massacre of poor farmers in the face of an arrogant local power elite", and the issue has no religious connotations.
The chief ministers of the two Congress-ruled states, along with party leader Rahul Gandhi, have arrived in Lucknow, from where they intend to go to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the victims.
'When in both post-mortems, doctors say that he was not shot, we had not option left but to cremated him'
Chaudhary, who took 13 hours to reach Lakhimpur Kheri from Delhi, several hours more than it would take to cover the 420 km-odd distance, also met the families of some of the farmer victims to learn their story of loss.
Yadav and Singh alleged that BJP MP Mishra issued a 'brazen threat' against the protesting farmers only a few days ago.
The arrests were made after their names emerged during the interrogation of other accused in police custody.
The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed in violence during a farmers' protest, with a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana scheduled to hear the matter on Thursday.
Dallewal has been on a fast-unto-death at the Khanauri border since November 26 to press the Centre to accept demands including a legal guarantee to the MSP on crops.
A group of 101 farmers will march to Delhi on Friday from the Shambhu border protest site, farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher has said. The march will begin at 1 p.m. and the group will face heavy police and security presence. The farmers are demanding a legal guarantee for minimum support price of crops, a farm debt waiver, pension for farmers and farm labourers, no hike in electricity tariff, withdrawal of police cases and "justice" for the victims of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The farmers have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 after their march to Delhi was stopped by security forces.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a 70-year-old Punjab farmer leader, is on his 21st day of a hunger strike demanding the Indian government address farmers' concerns, including a legal guarantee of MSP on crops. His health has deteriorated, and doctors have recommended immediate hospitalization. However, Dallewal, a cancer patient, has refused medical treatment.
The experts from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Lucknow, in their report, have said that the car owned by Dilbag Singh, the Kheri district president of Bhartiya Kisan Union-Tikait and also a witness in the Lakhimpuri Kheri violence case last year, was stationary when it was hit by bullets.
Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had on July 26 rejected the bail plea of Mishra.
Punjab farmer leader Sarwan Singh Pandher said no 'jatha' (group) of farmers will resume their foot march to Delhi on Tuesday. The farmers suspended their march after some were injured in teargas shelling by Haryana security personnel. Pandher accused the Centre of being confused on how the protesters should proceed to the national capital, citing contradictory statements from different ministers. He also criticized the government's lack of response to the hunger strike of farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal, which has entered its 14th day.
The Supreme Court on Monday suggested that a former high court judge monitor the ongoing probe by the Uttar Pradesh police into the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence during a farmers' protest, saying the investigation was not going the way it expected.
A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana is likely to pronounce its verdict at 10:30 am on Monday.
"Would your Lordships give me time till Monday? I have almost got it done. We are working something out," senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the UP government, told the bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana. "List on Monday," said the bench which, also comprised justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, acceding to the request.
Bharatiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait claimed that the crops are not procured by the government as per the MSP.
Assam's flood situation remained critical on Tuesday with over 6.71 lakh people affected in 20 districts in the second wave of flooding this year, as the Indian Air Force (IAF) rescued 13 stranded fishermen from the severely-hit Dibrugarh district, an official said.