Kamlesh Tiwari Murder: 2 Accused Ashfaq And Moinuddin Pathan Arrested By Gujarat ATS

The Gujarat ATS on Tuesday arrested two men wanted in connection with the murder of Hindutva leader Kamlesh Tiwari, said officials. The accused, Surat residents Ashfaq Shaikh (34) and Moinuddin Pathan (27), were absconding since Tiwari’s brutal killing in Lucknow on October 18, they said here.

They were arrested from near Shamlaji on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border when they were about to enter Gujarat on Tuesday evening, said Himanshu Shukla, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

Their location was traced through technical surveillance as they contacted their family members and friends after the duo ran out ofcash, he said. The duo will be handed over to the Uttar Pradesh police probing the sensational killing of Tiwari, who headed a little known outfit, Hindu Samaj Party (HSP).

Tiwari (45), who was earlier associated with a faction of the Hindu Mahasabha, was killed at his home in Naka Hindola area in Lucknow. Six persons, including three from Surat and one from Nagpur in Maharashtra, have already been taken into custody in connection with the murder case.

Earlier, the Karnataka’s Internal Security Division detained a person in connection with the sensational murder of former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari. The man has been identified as Mohammad Zafar Sadiq.

According to sources, the suspect was detained from Karnataka’s Hubbali. Sources say that he was associated with banned organisation SIMI. He used to work at the railway department workshop. The ISD is tight-lipped on what exactly was Sadiq’s role in the murder. This is the second such arrest in the day.

Earlier, sources say that a Muslim cleric was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly, who was allegedly involved in the murder. UP’s ATS arrested the Maulana. Sources say that the killers had met the Maulana before the murder.

Meanwhile, on Monday, the Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 2.50 lakh each for information leading to the arrest of the two suspected killers of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari. The police have identified Sheikh Ashfaq Hussain and Pathan Moinuddin Ahmed as key suspects in the murder case. Tiwari was killed at his Khursidbagh office in Luknow on Friday, October 18. The alleged killers, Hussain and Ahmed, had met Tiwari on pretext of gifting him sweets and spent almost 30 minutes with him before killing him.

Kamlesh Tiwari was stabbed and shot by the attackers and succumbed to his injuries at a Lucknow hospital during treatment. The duo have been identified using CCTV footage from camera outside Tiwari’s office in Lucknow as well as the hotel they checked in to.

Kamlesh Tiwari was a former leader of Hindu Mahasabha. He later founded the Hindu Samaj Party in 2017. UP Police SIT is investigating the murder case.  During the probe, it was revealed that the sweet box in which the suspects carroed the weapons was from a shop in Gujarat's Surat. A joint team of Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh police arrested Maulana Mohsin Sheikh (24), Khurshid Ahmed Pathan (23) and Faizan (21) in connection with Tiwari's murder.

Earlier in the day, Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) had confirmed that the accused created a fake Facebook account under the name of Rohit Solanki to befriend Kamlesh Tiwari.

According to sources, the suspects had reached Lucknow by road after reaching Kanpur from Gujarat via train. They accused are reported to have fled via Hardoi, Pilibhit and Bareli.