Uttar Pradesh: Former MLA 'beaten to death' over a land dispute in Lakhimpur Kheri

BAREILLY: Nirvendra Mishra "Munna"(73), the three-time ex-MLA from Nighasan constituency of UP's Lakhimpur Kheri district, was allegedly beaten to death by a group of men following a dispute over village land in Sampoornanagar on Sunday.
His son, Sanjeev, who was also attacked, alleged that the police, a local scribe along with some goons have been trying to encroach upon their land.He also claimed that on Sunday, his father was killed because of police inaction. Dismissing Sanjeev's allegations, Kheri SSP Satyendar Kumar said that on Sunday, the ex-MLA "accidentally fell on the ground during a heated argument with the other party to the case".
Mishra, who was a two-time independent MLA and once an MLA on Samajwadi Party ticket, was taken to a hospital where he was declared "brought dead". Notably, the land dispute was going on for a while and the matter is already in court. In fact, Mishra and his son were earlier charged under sections 107/116 of CrPC in the same case for "disruption of peace". The incident soon took a political colour with ex-CM Akhilesh Yadav tweeting that “Under BJP's rule, the public is not just tense about law and order, but scared too.” While the UP Congress tweeted, "Another Brahmin killed. The jungle raj in UP is getting frightening."
Police said that they are waiting for the autopsy report and would register an FIR after receiving a written complaint.
MLA’s son Sanjeev told TOI, “A case is pending over our ancestral land and the members of other party came along with a group of 50-60 people despite lockdown and police’s presence. They were ploughing the land and when we stopped them they started thrashing me. When my father tried to intervene, they also thrashed him. He had died on the spot. We took him to a hospital in Palia with the support of locals. Few members of the opposite party were caught by the villagers but later Circle Officer Kuldeep Kukreti arrived in the village with police force, he thrashed my wife and mother and rescued all of them.