Farmers Movement Archive

Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Kin dispute autopsy, agree to cremate 3 after mediation

BAREILLY: For hours on Tuesday morning, families of farmers who died in Sunday’s violence at Banbirpur in Lakhimpur Kheri refused to cremate the bodies after the autopsy reports "did not mention bullet injuries". Over the day, with Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait stepping in and holding talks with the administration, the bodies of three of them were finally cremated and a second autopsy ordered for the fourth. Police, meanwhile, have set up an SIT to investigate charges from both sides. Sources told TOI that the autopsy reports of the four farmers who died on Sunday — Lovepreet Singh, 20, Nachattar Singh, 60, Daljeet Singh, 35, and Gurwinder Singh, 19 — said they had antemortem injuries and did not mention bullet injuries, indicating they died in an accident. The journalist who died, Raman Kashyap, 32, had similar injuries and died of one on his head, the report said. The two BJP workers who died — Shyam Sundar, 32, and Shubham Mishra, 29 — and one driver, Hariom Mishra, had injuries consistent with being beaten to death, the report added. “There was no clarity on when we’d get the autopsy reports and over the FIRs. We didn’t want to cremate him before that. We shared our grievances with Rakesh Tikait and he asked us to stop cremation until police made things clear. We were told a second autopsy would be done,” Gurpej Singh, Lovepreet’s uncle, told TOI. For hours, Kheri SP Vijay Dhull and other officials tried to convince his family to cremate the body but the family refused. Tikait was in Shahjahanpur at the time. Lovepreet was from Bhagwantnagar and Nachattar from Ramdanpurva, both in Lakhimpur Kheri. Tikait arrived at Lovepreet’s village around 1.30pm and spoke to the family. “We were convinced all injuries on Lovepreet’s body were mentioned in the autopsy report. Then, around 3pm, we cremated him,” Gurpej said. Nachattar, too, was cremated in the afternoon. His family had not contested the autopsy findings reported at the time. Families of Lovepreet and Nachattar were handed over cheques of Rs 45 lakh each by the district administration later in the day. At Nanpara in Bahraich, the families of Daljeet and Gurwinder, too, were waiting for word from Tikait. By afternoon, they had received word about the contents of the autopsy report. “My son had a bullet injury. The autopsy report is incorrect. We want justice,” said Gurwinder’s father Sukhwinder Singh. Gurwinder’s family said a bullet hole could be seen near the right ear. Bhartiya Sikh Sangathan president Jasbir Singh Virk and Tikait then held a meeting with ADG (Gorakhpur zone) Akhil Kumar and other senior officials at Nanpara. After a long discussion, a decision was arrived at — Gurwinder’s body would be sent for a second autopsy. “It will be done by three doctors from PGI Lucknow in the presence of two members from Gurwinder’s family. A team will record a video,” Tikait told TOI from Nanpara. The team landed at the reserve police lines in Bahraich and was conducting the autopsy at the time of filing the report. Daljeet, meanwhile, was cremated around 5.30pm after Tikait met his family. By evening, the autopsy reports and the FIRs had been shared with all four families. Two speeding cars from Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni’s convoy had allegedly run over farmers staging a black flag protest on Sunday. The farmers had alleged that Teni’s son Ashish was part of the convoy and gunshots were fired. In the FIR on farmers’ deaths, a copy of which is with TOI, minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s name was not included. “I have not seen the FIR copy but the Union minister’s name was mentioned in the complaint and is part of the FIR. The investigating officer will question everyone mentioned in the complaint,” ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar said. “An SIT will investigate the case and work in parallel with the judicial inquiry. It will be led by an additional SP.” Meanwhile, Sanyukt Kisan Morcha leader Tejender Singh Virk, hospitalised with serious injuries, told a news channel that the minister’s son was in a car that ran the farmers over. “We were told at 3 pm that their route had changed. We started going back peacefully. Suddenly, speeding cars hit us from behind. The car was at over 100 km/hour speed. They ran us over on purpose. Ajay Mishra's son and his men were in the car. Then I lost consciousness … I am willing to testify,” he is quoted as saying. In another video shared on social media, he said, “Shots were fired at me after I was run over. I had a narrow escape.” When asked why no arrest had been made yet, a senior cop told TOI, “Negotiations with farmers were going on. Police were ensuring law and order. Action on arrest will follow soon.” (With inputs from Aakash Ahuja in Rudrapur)

The Times of India

2021-10-06

Bareilly