Hindu Samaj Party chief Kamlesh Tiwari was shot dead on Friday in Lucknow.
Tiwari was shot at Naka area of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, the police said. The leader was immediately taken to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries during the treatment. The assailants managed to flee the spot.
According to reports, the attackers, wearing saffron clothes, walked into Tiwari's office in Khurshid Bagh area on the pretext of handing over a box of sweets. Soon after walking in, the assailants opened the box, took out the firearm and sprayed Tiwari with bullets and fled. A revolver was recovered from the crime site.
The police have initiated a probe and the hunt to nab the culprits is on. Tiwari had hit the news in 2015 when he was arrested by the Akhilesh Yadav government for his comments against Prophet Mohammed. Tiwari had raised questions about the prophet’s sexuality. Tiwari’s remarks came after Azam Khan had called RSS members ‘homosexuals’.
Several mobs rampaged in Deoband, Saharanpur and Malda in Bengal over his remarks. Tiwari spent a year in jail under the NSA until it was squashed by the Allahabad High Court in 2016. His arrest and lack of media attention was held up as an example of media’s ‘selectivity’ when covering cases.
