Police investigations have reportedly revealed that Raees Ahmad who was recently arrested for allegedly providing money and mobile phone to murderers of Kamlesh Tiwari was part of a WhatsApp group of 72 people who were purportedly in touch with the murderers of the Hindu leader.

According to a report by Live Hindustan, Kamlesh Tiwari’s murder was a well-plotted one wherein all the communication was done through this WhatsApp group consisting of a total of 72 members. In fact, the killers were provided shelter and logistics on the instructions of the kingpin, who communicated with everyone involved in the conspiracy via this alleged group.

The police investigating the case, suspects the kingpin to be somewhere in Bareilly, from where the Delhi-based lawyer Mohammad Naved Siddiqui had been arrested on Thursday. Siddiqui was arrested after it was revealed that he had harboured the two killers of Tiwari and had helped them cross the border into Nepal.

Read: Moinuddin, one of the two men who murdered Kamlesh Tiwari, was a delivery boy with Zomato

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As per reports, Lawyer Mohammad Naved Raza Siddiqui is associated with the Bareilly-based Islamic shrine and is registered to practise at the Delhi High Court. Siddiqui had reportedly harboured Ashfaq and Moinuddin and had personally taken them to the Nepal border near Lakhimpur-Kheri’s Gauri Fanta.

Notably, police had arrested Raees Ahmad from his hometown in Palia of Kheri district along with Delhi High Court lawyer Mohammad Naved Siddiqui on October 26 taking the total number of arrest in the case to seven. Raees, who runs a mobile shop there, had reportedly provided a mobile phone and Rs 15000 to the suspects after they ran out of money on Sunday.

Moreover, one Syed Kaifi Ali, a cleric in the Bareli-based Islamic shrine was also arrested on Tuesday night. Ali had stated to the police that both the murderers, Ashfaq and Moinuddin had arrived at the shrine to meet him and Naved after killing Tiwari and had confessed to the murder on October 18.

Read: Aatish Taseer toes the Radical Islamic line, says ‘ordinary muslims’ should organize and they do not need ‘peace’

Naved, the lawyer, had allegedly received a call from one Sadiq Sheikh from Karnataka who had asked Naved and Ali to provide all possible help to Ashfaq and Moinuddin. While Ali left for home, Naved reportedly ensured their treatment, shelter and all other help. Naved later drove the killers in his sedan to Gauri Fanta and helped them cross into the Nepal border. They had stayed with Kamran, a mobile shop owner in the Nepal side. After staying there for a day, the killer duo had decided to return to India and surrender.

Another person named Syed Asim Ali was nabbed from Nagpur by the Gujarat ATS and brought to Lucknow.

UP Police have informed that the lawyer had arranged for the killers to find local accommodation in Nepal and had himself crossed the border to ensure necessary arrangements. Naved Siddiqui had also arranged two local mobile phones and cash for Ashfaq and Moinuddin.

On October 20, Naved Siddiqui had again helped them to return to India. After talking to Ashfaq’s wife and father, the duo had decided to surrender to Gujarat ATS. They had returned to Palia in Lakhimpur Kheri and went to Delhi via Shahjahanpur. From Delhi, they had boarded the Porbandar Express to Gujarat.

The UP police have arrested 8 people so far in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case.

The two killers, Moinuddin and Ashfaq are now being interrogated. They were reportedly cross-questioned along with the lawyer yesterday to extract more details of the murder and conspiracy.

Moinuddin, along with Ashfaq, was arrested by Gujarat ATS on October 22 from Gujarat-Rajasthan border after being on the run for four days. While Moinuddin worked as Zomato delivery boy, Ashfaq, second man arrested for the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari, worked as a medical representative in a pharma company. He had forged his colleague’s Aadhaar to pose as Rohit Solanki, a Hindu rights activist, to gain the trust of Tiwari.

It has also been revealed now that Ashfaq and Moinuddin wanted to video record the murder of Tiwari and use it to send a message to warn anyone who dares to ‘Insult Islam’.