On 18th October 2019, unknown assailants had brutally stabbed and killed former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari who had earlier spent 9 months in jail over his comments on Prophet Muhammad. It was reported that the police is also probing the possible ISIS angle to his murder as he was in their radar.
Now, a lesser-known affiliate of ISIS may have claimed responsibility for the brutal murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. Late on Friday night, a lesser-known arm of ISIS, Al-Hind Brigade claimed responsibility for the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. In a newly formed channel on Telegram, the message read, “We at Al-Hind Brigade claim the responsibility for killing Kamlesh Tiwari, who tried to defame Islam and Muslims. More to come”.
The message also said, “Kamlesh Tiwari was a nuisance and whosoever points fingers towards Islam and Muslims, will met same end. Al-Hind Brigade takes responsibility. Get ready to see more. The war has begun.”
While these messages are being widely circulated and the police is probing the ISIS angle, the veracity of Al-Hind Brigade being involved or even their claims being authentic has not been confirmed yet by the authorities.
Journalists also picked up chatter on Al-Aqsa Media Jammu & Kashmir (ISIS sympathizers). They are essentially underground Jihadi news distributors made up of ISIS sympathisers.
The messages seem mostly celebratory in nature.
More chatter on Islamist Jihadi news curator channel ‘Al-Aqsa Media Jammu & Kashmir’ on telegram about murder of #KamleshTiwari in India. UP Police SIT is probing the murder as of now. Media reports say they are looking into all angles. pic.twitter.com/igpmNmATP4
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 18, 2019
There is little to no information available on Al-Hind Brigade, however, it can be substantially proved that they are an arm of ISIS as 150 Maldivians had joined the Syria and Iraq ISIS forces and were considered a part of ‘Al-Hind Brigade’ which was connected to ISIS.
Yesterday, the wife of Kamlesh Tiwari had filed a complaint with the police and the police, in turn, had filed an FIR against 3 persons, including Maulana Haq for conspiring to commit murder.
The UP government has also given some vital information regarding the investigation into the murder of Kamlesh Tiwari. In a series of tweets, the UP govt has said that the investigation is ongoing and that the police has found some vital clues that would help them nab the killers.
In an interesting development, the UP government said that the assailants of Kamlesh Tiwari may have gained access to Tiwari by using fake names. At the same time, visuals have now emerged of the assailants purchasing the sweet box from the Dharti shop, thought the police have refused to confirm the visuals as of now.
In a major development in Kamlesh Tiwari murder case yesterday, three suspects, two men and a woman wearing orange coloured clothes can be seen walking towards Tiwari’s residence where he was brutally murdered. From the CCTV footage accessed by OpIndia yesterday, the assailants could be seen carrying a yellow Dharti sweets shop bag which was then left at the scene of the murder. Logo of Dharti Food Products Pvt Ltd, a Surat-based company was found on the table where Tiwari was murdered. As per reports, the initial investigations reveal that the assailants had links with Gujarat as they had brought with them the box of sweets from the Surat shop.
Kamlesh Tiwari was arrested by the then Akhilesh Yadav government for his remarks against Prophet Mohammad’s sexuality in 2015. Muslim groups in Deoband, Saharanpur and West Bengal had launched massive riots and protests demanding Tiwari’s death.
Kamlesh Tiwari had remained in jail or over a year after the National Security Act was slapped on him. In September 2016, the Allahabad HC had finally quashed the NSA charges against him and he was released later. The arrest and subsequent charges on Kamlesh Tiwari over remarks against Prophet Muhammad had caused an outrage in the nation, especially among Hindu groups.
In Kaliachak, Malda, West Bengal, Muslims had engaged in rampant violence and riots while ‘protesting’ against Tiwari’s remarks. Over 2.5 lakh Muslims had gathered in Kaliachak and had looted shops, burnt buses and had set fire to a police station to express their anger over Tiwari’s remarks. Tiwari had stated that Prophet Mohammad was the first homosexual in the world.
Tiwari’s remarks had come after SP leader Azam Khan’s statement that RSS members are homosexuals.
