A witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre case in which a Union minister’s son is an accused has complained that shots were fired at him on Tuesday night.

Dilbagh Singh, the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Tikait) district president, said he had escaped unhurt. He was driving home in his SUV when two bike-borne attackers fired at him, Dilbagh said.

Dilbagh is among the witnesses in the Tikunia violence of October 3, 2021, when four farmers and a journalist were crushed to death by a car being allegedly driven by Ashis Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, and three people were killed in retaliatory attacks. Ashis and 12 of his associates are in jail, as are four farmers.

Dilbagh said: “I had gone from my village Rahimnagar Grant to Bhaded to drop two friends. On my way back, two motorcycle-borne criminals chased my car and fired at it in an area between Bhaded and Muda villages. They punctured one of the tyres by firing at it.”

Dilbagh said: “I stopped the car, put my head on the wheel and blew the horn continuously to raise the alarm while playing dead. Suddenly, I saw some people coming towards me and the assailants escaped. There are bullet marks on my car but I don’t know whether the police will probe the matter honestly.”

Superintendent of police Sanjeev Suman said Dilbagh had granted two days’ leave to the constable assigned for his security. “Although we have registered a case on the basis of his complaint and are investigating the case, we are not convinced with his story,” Suman said, alleging certain contradictions.

“Besides the police, forensic and ballistic experts are also probing the incident.”

Dilbagh said he had sent the constable assigned to him on leave because the policeman’s son had suddenly fallen ill.

The farmer leader lodged a complaint with Gola Kotwali police soon after the attack. He said he had informed BKU-Tikait spokesperson Rakesh Tikait about the incident.

Additional superintendent of police Arun Kumar Singh said an FIR under appropriate sections of the IPC had been registered on Dilbagh’s complaint.

The officer said forensic teams had been sent to the spot to examine the vehicle and the crime scene and collect evidence. He said efforts were on to identify the attackers.

The ASP added that Dilbagh had sent the constable on leave on his own without informing police authorities. “If the matter of leave to his gunman had been intimated to us, we would have provided him with another gunman as an alternative arrangement,” the officer said.

On March 10, another witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, Diljot Singh, had been attacked by five men. This prompted the Supreme Court to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to provide security to all the witnesses in the case.

The police had concluded in Diljot’s case that it was an incident of road rage and the five accused were granted bail before their arrest.

Diljot, who had suffered head injuries, had told the police the attackers were supporters of Teni who had organised a procession to celebrate the BJP’s victory in the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.