Those invited by the media to cover the event were unable to attend because they were denied entry.
The invitation was rescinded due to Mr Mishra’s fear of being grilled by reporters about the lengthy delay in his son’s arrest.
Despite the fact that his son Ashish was named in a murder case involving the deaths of eight people in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, on Sunday, Union Minister Ajay Mishra attended a national conference of prison officials on Thursday morning.
The event was only open to invited members of the press. The invitation was rescinded due to Mr Mishra’s fear of being grilled by reporters about the lengthy delay in his son’s arrest.
According to a police report from the state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Ashish Mishra was charged with murder and negligence.
However, he has yet to be detained or interrogated.
Prashant Kumar, the Additional Director-General of the Uttar Pradesh Police, told NDTV yesterday, “There will be no one left unaffected… Technical evidence cannot be reversed. It’s not going anywhere.”
According to an official who spoke to NDTV Tuesday, this was due to the state police being “busy with negotiations with farmers, then with postmortems, and finally with getting the cremations done.”
When asked if the delay could be attributed to the accused’s obvious connections, SN Sabat (ADGP of Lucknow Zone) stated that the police attitude is towards the victim, not the accused.
There have been calls for Ajay Mishra, the country’s junior Home Minister, to resign, but he has refused.
According to government sources, he told Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday that he had no intention of resigning. When asked if he felt pressured to resign, he said no. “We’re under no obligation to investigate it, so why would I [resign]?”
The opposition is demanding that Mr. Mishra resign in order to ensure a “unbiased investigation.”
“In a democratic society, justice is a fundamental right.” The Union Minister must resign if the investigation is to be fair.” Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made the remarks yesterday after meeting with the victims’ families.
Ms Gandhi Vadra was arrested and detained for two days while attempting to visit the families (allegedly without legal notice). Ms Gandhi Vadra questioned why she was being detained while a murder suspect was released.
Both Ajay and Ashish Mishra have denied all charges, claiming they were not present when an SUV rammed into a peaceful farmers’ demonstration.
Ashish Mishra’s paternal home in Banwirpur, where he claimed to be at the time of the accident, was hosting a wrestling match. I was there to witness everything firsthand throughout the entire event.”
Eight people were killed in the violence that erupted ahead of Mr Mishra and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, including four farmers.
Four BJP workers who had come to meet Mr Maurya were attacked after allegedly running over protesting farmers in their convoy, which was part of a convoy of BJP workers.
