Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, an accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, is suspected to have contracted dengue and has been moved to a hospital from jail, ANI reported on Sunday.
Ashish Mishra’s blood sample was sent for testing to a laboratory in Lucknow on Friday, according to PTI.
“It is not yet confirmed as to whether he [Ashish Mishra] is suffering from dengue,” PP Singh, the superintendent of the district jail in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, told PTI. “The picture will be clear once the report comes.”
Ashish Mishra had been arrested on October 9 in connection with the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people, including four farmers, were killed on October 3 during a protest against the three agricultural laws.
The first information report filed in the case said Ashish Mishra was sitting on the left side of a car that crushed people in the crowd at Lakhimpur Kheri. He also allegedly fired his weapon as the vehicle hit some of the protestors, according to the FIR.
Apart from Mishra, nine other people have been arrested in connection with the violence.
The Supreme Court has expressed dissatisfaction with the way in which the Uttar Pradesh government has been handling the case. On Wednesday, the court had said that the state appeared to be “dragging its feet” in the investigation.
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