Eight people, including four farmers, have died in the violence in the Tikunia village of Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district. After an agreement between the farmers and the administration, the three families agreed for the cremation after the postmortem, while the family of one deceased farmer has refused to perform the last rites.

According to the farmer leaders, the last rites of the three farmers were performed as the wish of their families and with full customs. While one family, demanding the re-postmortem, has refused to perform the cremation.

Advertisement

Gurvinder Singh, son of Sukhwinder Singh, resident of Makronia village of Nanpara, died in the violence.

The farmers allege that the 19-year old Gurvinder was shot dead, which was not mentioned in the postmortem. For this reason, the family members have demanded a re-postmortem.

The Sankyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) issued a statement saying, “we upheld our earlier statement that one of the protesters was shot dead by the team of the minister’s son.”

“Sukhwinder was shot dead. However, this was not confirmed in the first postmortem. His postmortem will be performed again by a team of doctors from AIIMS, BHU, PGI and a senior forensic doctor in presence of SKM representatives in Bahraich,” Rajveer Singh Jadaun, state president of Bharatiya Kisan Union told IANS.

A case has been registered against the minister’s son.

35-year-old Daljit Singh, a resident of Banjaran Tanda of Nanpara Kotwali, has also died in the violence. The family consists of an elder brother, two children (son and daughter). His brother is a ‘granthi’ in a local gurudwara.

Rajdeep, the 15-year-old son of the Daljit, was present at the time of the incident as he too had accompanied his father to join the agitation.

“We were protesting peacefully on the roadside, suddenly three vehicles came from behind and went trampling everyone, my father was also crushed by the car. This whole incident happened in front of me ” Rajdeep recalls.

“He (Daljeet) was breathing after being hit by the car, but the ambulance could not arrive on time due to the crowd. Although it was too late by the time the ambulance arrived and he was taken away. He died on the way. It was done.”

According to the information, 20-30 farmers had arrived on their bikes from Nanpara to join the movement in Tikunia.

In the violence, apart from four farmers, four other people died, which includes two BJP workers and two drivers. Also, more than 12 people received injuries.

25-year-old BJP worker Shubham Mishra has also died in the violence; after the death, his family members are in a deplorable condition.

Shubham had gone to participate in the wrestling event organized by the Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni on 3 October. According to Vijay Mishra, father of Shubham, after getting information about the accident, he called his son several times but the phone was going off. Since then, he along with other family members started searching for his son but no information could be attained.

Late in the evening, the family members saw a video on social media in which some farmers were brutally beating a man lying on the ground. Based on the clothes of the person, the family members guessed that he could be Shubham.

The family is now hoping for justice and is demanding strict action against the culprits.

The area, where the violence took place, is inhabited by a large number of Sikhs. Even people also call it Mini Punjab.

Sitapur, Bahraich, Bareilly, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rampur, Gonda of the Terai belt of the state and have a considerable number of Sikh voters. A large number of Gurudwaras can also be seen in these areas.