Lakhimpur Kheri: A court here Tuesday allowed the SIT probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence to replace lesser charges in the case like causing death by negligence with attempt to murder, after the inquiry team said it was a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’. Earlier, the special investigation team (SIT) had urged the chief judicial magistrate to replace IPC sections 279 (rash driving/riding), 338 (causing grievous injuries by negligence) and 304A (causing death by a rash and negligent act) with IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) among others in the case related to the October 3 violence, in which eight people were killed.
The SIT retained IPC sections 302 (murder), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with a deadly weapon), 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
It also recommended the promulgation of IPC sections 326 (voluntarily causing injuries by dangerous weapons), 34 (acts by several persons with common intentions) and sections 3/25/30 of the Arms Act in warrants of the 13 accused.
“Chief judicial magistrate Chinta Ram allowed the special investigators to add IPC sections 307, 326 and sections 3/25/30 read with section 35 of the Arms Act against 13 accused of FIR number 219 in which MoS Home Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, alias Monu, is the main accused,” senior prosecution officer SP Yadav informed.
“After hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence counsels Tuesday, the magistrate also allowed to drop section 279, 338 and 304A of the IPC against the accused,” Yadav added.
Tuesday, all 13 accused in the Tikunia violence case were produced in the court of the chief judicial magistrate and hearing on the application took place. The defence counsels, while arguing in the court, objected to the addition of section 34 of the IPC and provisions of the Arms Act.
The court, however, held that the addition of section 34 was unjustified as the accused had already been remanded under section 149, the prosecution officer said.
The accused have been arrested in connection with FIR number 219 which pertains to the death of the four farmers and a local journalist in Tikunia.
The special investigators, while investigating the violence, had identified and arrested 13 people in FIR number 219, including Ashish Mishra, Sumit Jaiswal, Ankit Das and others, while in FIR number 220, four people were identified and arrested. All the accused are in judicial custody.
