Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Killer had fake FB account; Reward of ₹2.50 lakh each declared on Tiwari’s killers 

A key suspect in the murder case of former Hindu Mahasabha President Kamlesh Tiwari had befriended him through a fake account on Facebook.

According to sources of the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force sources, their counterparts in Gujarat have found that one of the assailants identified as Ashfaq Hussain had created the account under the name of 'Rohit Solanki' and befriended Tiwari.

Tiwari had agreed to meet 'Solanki' on October 18, the day he was killed.

Hussain and Moinuddin Pathan have been identified as the main assailants. Their identities was confirmed through the CCTV footage of the hotel they stayed in and also after the police recovered blood stained clothes and a towel from their room.

Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) O.P. Singh had earlier stated that the accused knew Tiwari as they spent around 30 minutes with him on the pretext of gifting him sweets.

Maulana Mohsin Sheikh, Khurshid Ahmed Pathan and Faizan, the three co-accused, have been arrested from Surat by a joint team of the Gujarat Police and the Uttar Pradesh Police.

An Ahmedabad court granted a 72-hour transit remand to them and they are likely to be produced in a Lucknow court on Monday.

Tiwari 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.

This was the fourth murder of a right-wing leader this month in Uttar Pradesh.

On October 8, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Chaudhary Yashpal Singh was also gunned down in a similar manner in Deoband. On October 10, BJP leader Kabir Tiwari was shot dead in Basti.

Reward of Rs 2.50 lakh each declared on Tiwari's killers

Uttar Pradesh DGP O.P. Singh on Monday announced a reward of Rs 2.50 lakh each on the two suspects, accused of killing 43-year old right wing leader Kamlesh Tiwari in Lucknow on Friday last week.

The Deputy General of Police said the reward would elicit information about the whereabouts of the two assailants.

On Sunday, the state police had identified the two assailants as Ashfaq Husain and Moinuddin Pathan, who had checked into a nearby hotel a day before committing the murder.

They had checked out of the hotel barely an hour after brutally murdering the former Hindu Mahasabha leader leaving behind their blood-soaked saffron kurtas and a blood-stained knife and other personal belongings in the hotel room.

After sending the recovered items for forensic examination, the police have sealed the hotel room.

The CCTV camera at the hotel reception has captured the two attackers moving out of the hotel in their saffron kurtas carrying the box of sweets in which the murder weapon had been hidden.

Incidentally, the recovery of the sweet box from the crime scene led the police to the Surat shop from where it was bought, and the subsequent arrest of three persons -- Maulana Mohsin Sheikh Saleem, Faizan and Rashid Ahmad Pathan alias Khursheed -- who are described as the conspirators of the crime.

The UP police are bringing the three accused to Lucknow on a 72-hour transit remand. They are expected to be presented before a court in Lucknow, later on Monday.