Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra, who is at the centre of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident with his son being accused of murder, attended his office in the Ministry of Home Affairs at North Block on Monday. He also met Home Minister Amit Shah and discussed the situation arising out of Sunday’ incident and the possible ways to tackle it for about 40 minutes, sources said.

This was the first time Mishra attended his office following the incident which led to the death of eight people including four farmers. His son, businessman Ashish Mishra, has been accused of shooting down a farmer and mowing down three others under his vehicle in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday in an FIR registered by the UP police.

Opposition leaders and Bharatiya Kisan Union’s Rakesh Tikait have been demanding Mishra’s sacking and the arrest of his son.

Sources said Mishra, who was in Lakhimpur Kheri till late on Tuesday night, arrived in Delhi this morning and went to his office at around 11 am. Sources said he stayed in his office for about half an hour and then proceeded to meet Shah at his residence.

“While in his office he was largely accompanied by his personal secretary and interacted with his staff. He did not hold any official meetings,” a home ministry official said.

Mishra has steadfastly maintained his and his son’s innocence in the whole matter and said that his son was not driving the vehicle that allegedly mowed down farmers. He has also denied allegations of his son shooting at farmers.

A video clip of an SUV mowing down farm protesters in Lakhimpur Kheri has raised the heat on the UP government with Tikait calling for the arrest of Mishra and his son for their alleged involvement in the incident and Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the issue during his visit to Lucknow.

On Tuesday, Tikait called for the Minister to be sacked, and arrested along with his son. Referring to the “truce” from the previous day, with the UP government promising a judicial probe and compensation for the victims’ families, Tikait posted on Twitter: “The decision in Lakhimpur Kheri is not the end of the movement. The Minister should be sacked and he, along with his son, must be arrested immediately. The government must fulfill its promises in the time decided.”

He told reporters later that they have “given a week to the government to arrest” Mishra’s son. Tikait said that “we will gather here again on the day of bhog” — 13 days after the deaths of the four farmers — to “decide future strategy”.

No one has been arrested in the case as yet.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government Wednesday allowed Congress leaders Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi along with three others to visit Lakhimpur Kheri.

Rahul Gandhi and chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Singh Channi have left for Lucknow, from where they intend to go to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the victims of the violence. Before leaving, Gandhi said farmers were being “systematically attacked” in the country, and targetted the government for “insulting” them.