Former Union minister Ajay Mishra and his son Ashish — accused in the killing of four persons in Lakhimpur Kheri in 2021 — had no role in the alleged intimidation of witnesses, the Uttar Pradesh Police told Supreme Court on Thursday.

In its status report, the Uttar Pradesh Police informed a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant that the investigation into the alleged witness intimidation was over and nothing incriminating was found against the father-son duo.

"I have not been even named in the chargesheet. The trial will wrap up in three months," senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Ashish, told the Bench – which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana.

The Bench was informed that the trial in the case was likely to conclude in three months.

It asked the complainant to file an additional affidavit in response to the status report in two weeks and deferred the hearing on Ashish Mishra's bail plea to next month after taking note of progress of the trial and perusing the status report.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri when they were holding a demonstration against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit on October 3, 2021, against against farm laws. In the subsequent violence, two BJP workers, a driver and a journalist were killed. It was alleged that Ashish was driving one of the cars.

On January 25, 2023, the top court granted interim bail to Ashish Mishra and chose to convert it into regular bail on July 22, 2024, when it restricted his movement to Delhi or Lucknow. It had also directed the trial court to expedite the trial. On November 27, 2024, it had asked Ashish Mishra to respond to the allegations of witnesses being threatened.

A Lakhimpur Kheri court had on December 6, 2022, framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy and certain other offences in the case. Virendra Shukla, the 14th accused was charged under Section 201 of IPC for causing disappearance of evidence. Currently, the trial is on.