On Tuesday, Ashish Mishra, the principal culprit in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and the son of MoS Ajay Mishra Teni, walked out of the Lakhimpur Kheri district jail five days after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail in the case on February 10. In the Lakhimpur Kheri area, Ashish Mishra was detained as the main suspect in the case in which four farmers were mowed down by an SUV purportedly belonging to him. In the ensuing conflict, four more individuals were slain, including a journalist.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the Lakhimpur Kheri incident detained Ashish Mishra on October 9 last year. The SIT further labelled the incident a "pre-planned conspiracy" and ordered the Magistrate court to charge the defendants with attempted murder in the FIR. Following SIT's plea, the judge added murder charges against Mishra.
An FIR was first filed against him and a few others in connection with the incident, but the UP police did not pursue charges against him until the Supreme Court consented to hear the case. His arrest came a day after the Supreme Court voiced its displeasure with the state government's handling of the matter.