Petitioner trying to link Holi incident to Kheri, UP tells SC

NEW DELHI: Dismissing allegations of BJP exercising muscle power on witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case of last year, the Uttar Pradesh government told Supreme Court on Tuesday that the petitioner was attempting to conflate the incident of March 10 and link it to the Kheri incident.
The latter was the result of an altercation over throwing of gulal while celebrating Holi, it said.
Petitioner Jagjeet Singh's counsel Prashant Bhushan had told a bench of CJI NV Ramana that a witness was brutally assaulted by goons and was threatened that "he would be taken care of" since BJP has been re-elected to office in UP. Ashish Mishra is the main accused in the October 2021 violence case.
On the basis of allegations made by Bhushan on behalf of the petitioner, the CJI had sought details of the security provided to the witnesses. The state government informed the court that "all the witnesses whose Section 164 statements were recorded (by a magistrate), have been receiving continuous security under the Witness Protection Scheme 2018".
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during a violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.