Wife of Kamlesh Tiwari accuses UP government of trying to silence her

Kiran Tiwari, wife of slain Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari, on Saturday alleged that police had not provided her husband with enough security and demanded that the accused in the murder case should be hanged to death.

She also accused the government of "trying to silence her".

Addressing a press conference here, she alleged that "negligence by police" led to death of her husband.

"We have doubts on the police action. Police's negligence is to be blamed for my husband's murder. I request the government that the accused should be hanged to death at the earliest," she said.

Kiran, who has been elected as the new chief of Hindu Samaj Party, said she had not "begged" before the government for the financial aid and added "the government wants to silence us by giving us money."

She criticised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for not visiting her home after Kamlesh Tiwari's murder and accused the government of not providing enough security to the slain leader.

The state government earlier this week sanctioned Rs 15 lakh and a house to the family of Kamlesh Tiwari, who was murdered in Lucknow on October 18.

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the murder. Two of them, 34-year-old Ashfaq Hussain Jakir Hussain Shaikh and 27-year-old Moinuddin Khurshid Pathan were arrested by Gujarat's Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) from the Gujarat-Rajasthan border on October 22.

Three other accused -- Rashid Pathan, Faizan Sheikh, and Maulana Mohsin Sheikh - were sent to police custody for four days on October 22 in connection with the case.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case arrested two more people on Saturday.

( With inputs from ANI )