Pune, Oct 5 (PTI) Congress in-charge for Maharashtra H K Patil on Tuesday condemned the Lakhimpur Kheri violence saying the Congress will not allow India to turn into a "police raj".

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Eight people were killed as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

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"Lakhimpur Kheri incident is a heinous crime against peacefully protesting farmers. In fact, it is a crime against humanity. Instead of withdrawing the draconian anti-farm laws, the government is killing farmers through their political followers and their kin," Patil alleged.

He said Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior leaders were arrested by the police who prevented them from meeting the family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur violence.

"We strongly condemn the police raj culture and we won't allow this country to turn into police raj at any cost," he said.

Farmer leaders have claimed that MoS Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars, which they alleged knocked down some protesters who were opposing the deputy CM's visit.

Meanwhile, Patil demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court into the "Amazon bribery case".

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)