A court in Uttar Pradesh has granted bail to the man accused of helping those who allegedly murdered Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari in October, IANS reported on Wednesday.
The Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court allowed bail to Kaifi Ali Rizvi, a cleric based in Uttar Pradesh’s city of Bareilly, on two personal bonds of Rs 20,000 each. The lawyer, representing Rizvi, contended that the accusations against his client were bailable.
The Special Investigation Team set up to look into Tiwari’s murder had arrested Rizvi on October 24 for allegedly sheltering the two accused. The Hindutva leader was attacked inside his office in Khurshed Bagh in Lucknow on October 18. The assailants had slit his throat, and shot him. He died while undergoing treatment in the hospital.
The main suspects, identified as 34-year-old Ashfaq Hussain Jakir Hussain Shaikh and 27-year-old Moinuddin Khurshid Pathan, were arrested from Gujarat. Around a dozen more arrested in the case are still in jail.
Following Rizvi’s bail announcement, Tiwari’s wife Kiran Tiwari said that the news was “unfortunate and shocking”. “He has been released in less than two months,” she said. “Recently, I have received a letter with [a] death threat to me but the government is least concerned about our security.” Kiran Tiwari is the Hindu Samaj Party president.
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