Kamlesh Tiwari murder: 3 people detained from Surat

Lucknow A joint team of Uttar Pradesh Police Uttar Pradesh AntiTerror Squad and Gujarat Police on Saturday detained three persons from Surat in the brutal daylight murder of former Hindu Mahasabha chief Kamlesh Tiwari at his office in LucknowAddressing a press conference Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police DGP OP Singh said A joint team of UP and Gujarat Police has detained Maulana Mohsin Sheikh Faizan and Khurshid Ahmed Pathan and is interrogating themSingh said the police initially detained five persons from Surat but two were released later Their activities are being monitored said Singh The National Investigation Agency NIA is also keeping an eye on the probe and the may soon take over the probe from the UP Police soonAccording to Gujarat Police sources the attackers wearing saffron clothes had walked into Tiwaris office in Khurshid Bagh on Friday on the pretext of handing over a box of sweets Inside the office the assailants opened the box took out a gun and sprayed bullets at Tiwari and fled Tiwari was rushed to the hospital but could not be savedTiwari a former Hindu Mahasabha chief had in January 2017 formed the Hindu Samaj Party and was known for making controversial remarks In 2015 he was arrested and the National Security Act NSA was slapped on him after he made some controversial statement about Prophet Muhammad Recently the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court revoked the NSA against himIn the initial interrogation no criminal background has been established of the three detained If needed we will take them into remand and bring them to UP for questioning said the DGPHe said In the FIR two people Maulana Anwarul Haq and Mufti Naeem Qazmi were named as conspirators These two have also been detained and they are being questionedAsked if the murder had any links with terrorist organisations Singh said So far no link with any terrorist organisation has been established We are looking into all the anglesTo a question over the reason behind Tiwaris murder Singh said Prima facie these people were radicalised by the speech that he Tiwari gave in 2015 but much more can come out when we catch hold of the remaining criminalsSingh also denied that there were any security lapses on part of the UP Police He Tiwari was given a gunner and a policeman both were there with him There was no laxity on the part of the police administration he saidThis is the fourth murder of a rightwing leader this month in UP On October 8 BJP leader Chaudhary Yashpal Singh was gunned down in a similar manner in Deoband while on October 10 BJP leader Kabir Tiwari was shot dead in Basti Kabir Tiwari was also a former student leader and student groups went on a rampage after his killing burning down government vehiclesOn October 13 BJP corporator Dhara Singh 47 was gunned down by unidentified assailants in SaharanpurAccording to NIA sources two IS suspects arrested by the Gujarat Police in 2017 Obaid Mirza and Qasim had revealed during interrogation that Tiwari was on their hit list The two said that they had been shown a video of Tiwari and asked to eliminate himThe NIA sources said that the agency was following the case closely and if any indication of participation by any terror group appears it will take over the probeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates