Lakhimpur violence: TMC leaders first to meet victims’ kin, question post mortems at night

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 5

At a time when top opposition leaders are struggling to reach Lakhimpur Kheri, a Trinamool Congress delegation arrived at the epicentre of Sunday’s violence and met the families of deceased farmers.

Speaking to The Tribune on phone, senior TMC leaders and MPs Kakoli Ghosh and Sushmita Dev said the families of the four deceased farmers were distraught over the turn of events and had claimed that gun shots were also fired at the victims.

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“Why were the post mortems done yesterday night? That is illegal. You cannot conduct post mortem at night. That shows they have something to hide. When we met the family of Lovepreet Singh, a 20-year-old victim, today they said they did not want to cremate their child and wanted to see the post mortem report first. They also lamented that the son of junior home minister had not been arrested yet,” Ghosh said moments before Lovepreet was cremated after UP administration and families of three deceased farmers reached an agreement to conduct the last rites.

Only one farmer’s body –19-year-old Gurwinder Singh—will be sent for a second post mortem to determine gunshot injuries.

Meanwhile, TMC’s Sushmita Dev told TNS that all families of deceased farmers said they wanted justice and not compensation.

“The families, all Sikhs, also want the state administration to apologise for calling their kin anti-nationals and to recognise them as genuine farmers. The families are aghast that the post mortems did not speak of gunshot wounds which they said several eyewitnesses corroborated. Lovepreet’s family also told us they wanted a post mortem outside of UP preferably in Punjab,” Sushmita said asking why the junior home minister had not stepped down yet and what justice could anyone expect with the MoS Home in his chair considering police coming under him.

The TMC MPs visiting the area include Dola Sen and Pratima Mandal. The visit comes at a time when the TMC is in talks with the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party for an alliance for the 2022 UP elections.

Asked how they managed to come to the victims when several other leaders were still in detention, Sushmita Dev said they reached the area last night and headed for Lakhimpur early morning Tuesday, sure that the entire state machinery and police would be busy with the Prime Minister’s Lucknow visit.