Lakhimpur violence: Congress leader Sachin Pilot en route to Sitapur by road from Delhi

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot landed in Delhi on Wednesday morning and set out for Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh by road straight from the airport, sources close to him said.Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is in detention at the PAC compound in Sitapur since Monday morning. She was on her way to meet the families of farmers killed in Sunday’s violence when she was stopped.Pilot, who arrived here on a flight from Jaipur, will also try to visit Lakhimpur to meet the grieving families, the sources said.

The Ghaziabad Police, meanwhile, launched a special checking drive upon getting information about Pilot’s intended visit to Lakhimpur Kheri.Every vehicle is being checked. The Ghaziabad administration will not permit Pilot to go Lakhimpur as his presence may cause law and order problems there, City Superintendent of Police (second) Gyanendra Singh, who is on duty at Ghazipur border, told PTI.Four of the eight dead in Sunday’s violence in Lakhimpur Kheri were farmers, allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.The four others included two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra, and Raman Kashyap, a journalist working for a private TV channel.While the first three were allegedly lynched by agitating farmers, the scribe, according to his father, died after being hit by a vehicle when he was covering news of farmers’ protest against Maurya’s visit to Ajay Mishra’s native place.The UP Police has lodged a case against Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son but no arrest has been made.