Police arrest Indian minister’s son in killing of farmers
BISWAJEET BANERJEE
Associated Press
LUCKNOW, India (AP) — Indian police say they have arrested the son of a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as a suspect days after nine people were killed in a deadly escalation of yearlong demonstrations. Tens of thousands of farmers have been protesting against contentious agriculture laws in northern India. Four farmers died Sunday when a car owned by Junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra ran over a group of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, a town in Uttar Pradesh state. Farm leaders alleged that Mishra’s son was in the car when it ran over the protesters, but Mishra denied it. His driver and three members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party who were in a car were all killed by the protesters.