india

Updated: Oct 22, 2019 09:16 IST

Vigilance has been increased along the Indo-Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh and an alert has been sounded in Shahjahanpur district as well as its adjoining areas on suspicion that the two suspected killers of Hindu outfit leader Kamlesh Tiwari were present in the district on Sunday midnight, said state police officials.

A senior police official privy to the investigation said multiple police teams were rushed to Shahjahanpur district after the two suspected killers’ movements were captured in three CCTV cameras installed at different locations near the railway station on Sunday midnight. He said the two suspected killers were Sheikh Ashfaq Hussain, 21, and Pathan Moinuddin Ahmed, 23 of Surat, Gujarat.

He said an intensive checking drive was carried out in hotels, lodges and rest houses during the wee hours and early morning on Monday.

He said the footage of two hotels showed that the two suspects carrying bags on their backs were walking towards the bus stand between 11.47 pm and 12.02 am on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday. Before this , the suspects’ movement was recorded in the CCTV camera outside the railway station, he added.

The official said the alert was sounded along the border as Gauri Fanta border in Shahjahanpur’s adjoining district Lakhimpur Kheri was merely 131 km from the suspects’ last location. He said it was apprehended that the two suspects were moving towards Lakhimpur Kheri as they had returned to Shahjahanpur after reaching Bareilly two days ago .

Sharing the two suspected killers’ trail, the official said so far investigation confirmed they reached Kanpur through train and headed towards Lucknow via road after purchasing a new SIM card and mobile phone from a shop near Kanpur railway station on the night of October 17. He said the two killers checked in at a hotel in Lalkuan locality on the same night and executed the killing on the afternoon of October 18 and immediately left the the city . He said the suspects reached Bareilly via Shahjahanpur where one of the two suspects Moinudeen got the injury in his right hand treated at a hospital near Bareilly railway station on the intervening night of October 18 and 19.

The official said the two suspects later returned to Lakhimpur Kheri apparently planning to cross over to Nepal but failed to do so due to intensified security on account of by polls in Uttar Pradesh. He said they then reached Palia of Lakhimpur Kheri district from where they again reached Shahjahanpur after hiring an Innova car from there.

Killers’ Gujarat link booked car for them

The UP Special Task Force assisting Lucknow police in tracing the suspected killers had held the driver of the Innova car from Palia after coming to know about the development. A senior police official said the driver revealed during interrogation that the car owner told him that his friend from Gujarat had called him to book the car late night and directed to drop the duo in Shahjahanpur. He said the driver dropped the suspects near Shahjahanpur railway station on Sunday night from where walked towards an unknown destination.

3 Alleged conspirators brought to Lucknow

The three alleged conspirators, Faizan Yunus, 21, Maulana Mohsin Sheikh, 24, and Rashid Ahmad alias Rashid Pathan, 23, were brought to Lucknow on Monday afternoon but they were not presented in court.The Lucknow police team brought the trio after procuring their 72 hours transit remand from a Surat court. The trio was arrested by Gujarat Anti Terror Squad on intervening night of October 18 and 19 for alleged links in Tiwari’s murder. A senior police official said the trio had been questioned further to extract more information about the conspiracy behind the killing . He said the trio would be presented in a local court on Tuesday to seek their police custody remand to further interrogate them in the matter.