Kamlesh Tiwari murder: Kamlesh Tiwari's family met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today
The family of Kamlesh Tiwari, the UP politician who was murdered at his residence in Lucknow on Friday, met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for around 30 minutes this afternoon. Speaking to news agency ANI after the meeting, Kiran Tiwari, the victim's wife, said the Chief Minister had assured her that justice would be done. "We demanded capital punishment for the murderers. He assured us that they will be punished," she said.
"The Chief Minister has stated that he will investigate the matter. I believe that Yogi Adityanath will ensure justice by doing so. I felt really good after talking to him," she added.
Mr Tiwari's mother, Kusum Tiwari, who on Saturday hit out at the state and alleged her son had been killed by a local politician, said he was "just like my elder son".
"We met Yogi Adityanath who is just like my elder son. We felt so good after meeting him. Our demand is that justice should be provided to our son and the guilty persons should be given strictest punishment and the Chief Minister has assured us that justice will be done," she said.
According to news agency PTI, the family also demanded they be granted an arms licence for security purposes and that their residential colony be named after Kamlesh Tiwari.
Mr Tiwari's son Satyam, who was also at the meeting today, earlier cast doubt over the UP government's investigation into his father's death and called for a NIA probe.
"We want the National Investigation Agency to probe the case. We do not trust anyone. My father was killed although he had security guards. How can we possibly trust the administration then?" Satyam Tiwari said on Saturday.
Kamlesh Tiwari, 45, had been provided with armed security - two gunners and a guard - by a local police station. On the day of his murder, the gunners were absent. The police said the guard stopped the suspects at the gate and only allowed them through after checking with Mr Tiwari.
Samajwadi Party leader and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, who criticised the Yogi Adityanath government for creating a crime-friendly environment, called the meeting a "reasonable step" but reminded the Chief Minister there were grieving families in other districts that he needed to visit.
"It is a reasonable step to meet bereaved family of victims of unhappiness in the state capital. Hope Chief Minister will also visit Allahabad, Kannauj, Jhansi and Meerut, where families of other victims of the state's deteriorating law and order are also present," Mr Yadav wrote on his Twitter account.
On Friday, Mr Tiwari's wife, Kiran Tiwari, threatened self-immolation if her husband's killers weren't brought to account and said that the UP government had been informed of threats against his life but had failed to act.
The Chief Minister called Kamlesh Tiwari's murder "an act of mischief to create terror".
Earlier today UP police said they may have found clothes matching the description of those worn by the two male suspects in the murder. Clothes, stained with what appeared to be blood, and a few bags, were recovered from a hotel near Mr Tiwari's residence in the Naka Hindola neighbourhood of the city.
Police believe the killers checked into the hotel with their real addresses a night before the killing and came back after the murder to dump their clothes before leaving.
Addressing reporters on Saturday night OP Singh, Director-General of Police (UP) said all aspects of the case were being probed and that state police were in touch with Anti-Terrorism Squads in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
With input from ANI, PTI