Kamlesh Tiwari murder case: Clothes matching of suspects found; one held

Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday (October 20) found clothes that they believe match the description of those worn by the two suspects in the murder of former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari.

The two male suspects, who were identified as Sheikh Ashfaq Hussain and Pathan Moinuddin Ahmed, were staying at Hotel Khalsa, near Tiwari’s residence.

Police believe that the murderers checked into a hotel with their real addresses a night before the incident and later returned to dump their clothes. They have recovered saffron colour clothes and a few other bags from the hotel.

Lucknow police:Received inputs about 2 suspects, Sheikh Ashfaq Hussain&Pathan Moinuddin Ahmed were staying at Hotel Khalsa. A saffron coloured garment & a towel with blood stains were found in room.Hotel Manager says,'After seeing the footage on TV,we checked IDs&informed police' pic.twitter.com/FlOC1ElKZ5

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 20, 2019

According to reports, camera footage from the hotel showed the alleged killers checking in on Thursday night and leaving on Friday morning, dressed in saffron colour kurtas and carrying a yellow bag.

Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police on Saturday arrested a man from Mominpura locality, Nagpur in connection with the murder of Tiwari, an official said. The ATS official said that the arrest was made on the basis of leads provided by the Uttar Pradesh police.

The arrested man was identified as Sayed Asim Ali (29), who runs a hardware business in the city. Ali had organised a protest against Tiwari in the past and also issued a “warning” to him in a YouTube video, the police official said.

Also read: Five held for Kamlesh Tiwari’s murder, DGP rules out terror link

Earlier in the day, Uttar Pradesh Police had said that five persons, including three from Gujarat’s Surat, had been arrested in connection with the murder. The suspects were “radicalised” and appeared to have targeted Tiwari for his inflammatory remarks made in 2015, the police said.

Among the arrested were Bijnor residents Mohammed Mufti Naeem Kazmi and Imam Maulana Anwarul Haq, who were booked on murder charges on Friday after Tiwari’s wife named them in her police complaint, alleging that the duo had announced a bounty of ₹1.5 crore on his head in 2016.

Three persons detained in Surat by Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad were identified as Faizan Yunus Bhai, Maulana Mohsin Sheikh, and Rashid Ahmed Khursheed Ahmed Pathan.

OP Singh, UP DGP on #KamleshTiwariMurder: We have contacted Gujarat and Maharashtra ATS. Our team has also spoke to the woman who was seen in the CCTV footage. All aspects of the case are being probed. (19.10) pic.twitter.com/V5BC86W6KN

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 20, 2019

Uttar Pradesh’s Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh had earlier rejected any terror angle associated with case. He had assured that the police were examining CCTV footage, interrogating suspects and exploring all possible angles of the crime.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday met the victim’s family. Tiwari’s mother, his wife, and three sons spent nearly 30 minutes with the chief minister at his official residence here.

Lucknow: Family of #KamleshTiwari meets Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at his residence. Kamlesh Tiwari was shot dead on October 18. pic.twitter.com/Ao96gpM6fb

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 20, 2019

Terming the murder “an act of mischief to create terror”, Adityanath had on Saturday said the guilty will not be spared.

Tiwari’s mother Kusum had on Saturday alleged that he was killed by a local BJP leader over a temple dispute. “My son was killed by a local BJP leader Shiv Kumar Gupta due to a temple land dispute in village. But I am alive and I will kill him,” she told reporters in Sitapur.

Tiwari (45), leader of the lesser-known Hindu Samaj Party (HSP), who was earlier associated with a faction of the Hindu Mahasabha, was killed at his residence in Lucknow on Friday (October 18).