At least eight Indian farmers were reportedly killed after a convoy of cars linked to a federal minister’s son ran over the group as they protested against agricultural laws in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, India.
Ajay Kumar Mishra, the son of India’s Deputy Home Minister, was reportedly in one of the cars involved in the accident. However, Mishra rejected the claim saying that his son was not present during the tragedy. He alleged that a car driven by one of his drivers lost control and accidentally hit the farmers after they pelted stones at the vehicle and attacked it with sticks and swords, Al Jazeera reported.
"If my son would've been there, he wouldn't have come out alive," he said.
Police officers and several other district authorities confirmed the death toll but did not share further details of the accident
“Eight persons have died in the Lakhimpur [Kheri] incident,” Arun Kumar Singh, a senior police official, said.
Two farmers were reportedly hit and killed by a car in the incident. In addition to the two farmers, three members of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the governing political party in India, a driver, and two other farmers were also reported dead, according to police officials.
Out of the eight people who died in the incident, four deaths were reported to be the occupants of the vehicle that had allegedly driven into the farmers, Reuters reported.
The incident reportedly happened while the farmers were staging a demonstration along a road in Lakhimpur Kheri against the visit of Mishra and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
The farmers have been protesting for almost one year since November 2020 after the government introduced new farming laws opening up agricultural markets, which it said would make selling produce easier. However, farmers want the laws to be repealed as they believe that the legislation will leave smaller farming operations exposed and at the mercy of larger companies.
Tens of thousands of farmers have camped for months on major highways in New Delhi to oppose the agriculture laws.
An investigation into the incident is reportedly underway, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's office said.
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