A key eyewitness to the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre has alleged that triumphant supporters of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni beat him up on Thursday after the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election result became clear and threatened to kill him if he did not withdraw from the murder case against Teni’s son Ashis.

Police have registered a case against five people for allegedly attacking Diljot Singh, who had deposed that he saw a Thar jeep belonging to Teni mow down four farmers and a journalist in Tikunia, Lakhimpur Kheri, on October 3 last year. Diljot says he also saw Ashis get off the car, fire in the air and run away.

On Friday, advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Supreme Court during the morning mentioning hours that a witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri case had been attacked but did not name the victim. The court will on Tuesday take up a plea for cancellation of Ashis’s bail.

Police said Diljot, a resident of village Kalhaur, had suffered head injuries and torn clothes and had received first aid at a local hospital.

Diljot was quoted as telling reporters that he was driving his tractor on Thursday when he chanced upon a motorbike-and-car procession by BJP supporters celebrating their party’s Uttar Pradesh victory.

“They (the attackers) were supporters of Teni. As soon as they saw me, they pounced on me and thrashed me mercilessly. They said they would kill me if I didn’t withdraw my name from the list of eyewitnesses in the Tikunia (Lakhimpur Kheri) murder case,” he said.

Balendu Gautam, officer in charge of Kotwali Tikunia police station, accepted that the attackers were BJP supporters but attributed the violence to road rage.

“We have registered a case against five people — Ramu Kumar, Manna Singh, Pawan Kumar, Anil Prasad and Ashok Kumar — on a complaint from Diljot. They are in hiding,” he said.

“The accused were part of a procession and allegedly attacked Diljot, who was taking sugarcane from his home to the Belrayan Sugar Mill and delayed giving the right of road to them near Tikunia.”

The case invokes the charges of voluntarily causing hurt, criminal intimidation and rioting.

Local BJP leaders said they had not heard of any such incident.

Ashis, prime accused in the murder case, was arrested by the state police’s special investigation team but was granted bail by Allahabad High Court.

In the apex court, Bhushan was appearing for some of the slain farmers’ families who have sought cancellation of Ashis’s bail.

Bhushan told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana that the plea was to be listed for hearing on Friday but was not taken up.

The bench, which included Justices A.S. Bopanna and Hima Kohli, said an “office mistake” (by the registry) had prevented the matter being listed and assured Bhushan that it would be heard on Tuesday.

The February 21 plea argues that the high court had failed to examine the “character” and “overwhelming evidence” against Ashis.

The Supreme Court had earlier questioned the shoddy investigations by the local police and ordered a court-monitored SIT probe.

Two advocates have filed a separate petition challenging the grant of bail to Ashis.