The Gujarat ATS, UP police and Surat police, in a joint operation on Saturday, detained six persons for their alleged connection with Hindu leader Kamlesh Tiwari's murder. Since Tiwari's murder in Lucknow on Friday, the police were following possible Surat links as a sweetmeat box in which the gun was kept was from a shop in Surat.
Three of the detained have been identified as Shamim Pathan, Faizan Pathan and Mohsin Sheikh. Two men, who executed the murder, are still on the run.
Tiwari is believed to have been killed for the alleged remarks he made against Muslim community in 2015. According to police sources, after scrutinising the video footage of the Dharati Farsan Shop in Udhna area of Surat, it emerged that two of the accused bought the sweetmeat box from there.
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Sources said that they are also believed to have brought the orange cloth, which they wore on Friday, from Surat. The sources further added that those arrested are apparently not associated with any terrorist outfit, but wanted to eliminate Tiwari for his alleged remarks.
The accused had planned the murder for months, the sources claimed.
Tiwari, the president of a little-known Hindu Samaj Party was found murdered at his home in Lucknow on Friday. Police have registered an FIR against three persons in connection with the killing. Tiwari was earlier associated with a faction of the Hindu Mahasabha.
