India: nine people die in farmers’ protests against new laws

Conflicting accounts about how violence broke out around convoy of minister Ajay Mishra

Nine people have been killed in violent clashes during a protest by hundreds of farmers in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, in a deadly escalation of year-long demonstrations against contentious agriculture laws.

The farmers had gathered for a demonstration on Sunday in Lakhimpur Kheri district, where the junior home affairs minister Ajay Mishra and the state's deputy chief minister, Keshav Prasad Maurya, were due to visit.