Lucknow, Sept. 26 -- Punctuated by delays, intimidation allegations and instances of witnesses turning hostile, the saga of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case has taken a new turn, shifting the focus back to the high-profile trial involving the prime accused Ashish Mishra, son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' following the Supreme Court's order to the Uttar Pradesh government to replace the public prosecutor in the October 3, 2021 Tikunia violence case in which eight people were killed during protests against the Centre's now-repealed farm laws five years ago. First, four farmers and a journalist were mowed down by a convoy of SUVs that day. In retaliation, two BJP workers and a driver were dragged out of a vehicle and lynched. Two vehicles were set on fire. The incident led to two FIRs numbered 219 and 220 and the two cases have shown contrasting progress ever since. A total of 103 witnesses were finalised in connection with the first FIR, 87 deposed and 20 of them turned hostile. In the second case, all 87 witnesses have deposed. The initial list in the first case had 441 witnesses, including 208 eyewitnesses, 15 injured, including police personnel, and 15 doctors who conducted post-mortems. In FIR number 219, all 14 accused in the death of the farmers and the journalist, including the prime accused Ashish Mishra, were charged under Indian Penal Code sections 147, 148 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 427 (mischief), 120B (conspiracy) and Section 177 of the MV Act. At present, all 14 are out on bail. The case is being heard daily and monitored by the apex court. FIR number 219 was lodged by farmers implicating Ashish Mishra and others on October 4, 2021. The same day, BJP ward member Sumit Jaiswal lodged FIR number 220 against the farmers. "In the second FIR, all 87 witnesses have deposed. Now, final arguments will start," said public prosecutor Sanjay Singh, who is representing the state government in the second trial. The Supreme Court took cognizance of the incident on October 7, 2021. On October 9, 2021, Ashish Mishra appeared before a Special Investigation Team and was arrested late that night. The SIT also arrested 12 others-Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shekhar Bharti, Ankit Das, Latif Kale, Satyam Tripathi, Nandan Singh Bisht, Ullas Trivedi alias Mohit, Sumit Jaiswal, Shishu Pal, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara. Another accused Virendra Shukla was arrested later. On January 3, 2022, the SIT filed a 5,000-page chargesheet in connection with FIR number 219, naming 14 accused. Virendra Shukla, the 14th accused, was granted bail by CJM Lakhimpur. On January 21, 2022, the SIT filed chargesheet against four people in connection with FIR number 220 - Vichitra Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Gurpreet Singh and Kamaljeet Singh. All four are currently on bail. On February 15, 2022, the main accused Ashish Mishra was released after 128 days in jail after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court granted bail. On April 18, 2022, the Supreme Court cancelled his bail. The trial began in January 2023. On January 25, 2023, Supreme Court granted eight weeks' interim bail to Ashish Mishra. It has continued since then. After district government counsel Arvind Tripathi retired about four months back, additional district government counsel Prabhakar Brahma Mishra was given charge of the main trial-the first FIR. On September 22, the apex court ordered the state to replace the incumbent prosecutor within two weeks with a senior public prosecutor having "fair experience" of conducting trial, after victims alleged he was giving up crucial eyewitnesses. Following the order, the state government is looking for a suitable replacement. Former DGC Arvind Tripathi, who represented the state since the trial began in January 2023, is the frontrunner, people aware of the matter said. "Jagjit Singh, father of one of the farmers who died and the complainant in the case, was the first prosecution witness," Tripathi said....