Kaifi Ali Rizvi, accused of helping the accused in the Kamlesh Tiwari murder case, has been granted bail by a court in Uttar Pradesh.
The court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate granted bail to Rizvi on two personal bonds of Rs 20,000 each. The counsel, who appeared for the Maulana, argued that the charges against his client were bailable.
Kamlesh Tiwari, a Hindu leader, was shot dead by two persons inside his house-cum-office in Khurshid Bagh in Lucknow on 18 October. The killing was said to be a revenge for remarks that Kamlesh Tiwari had made in 2015 against Prophet Mohammed.
The two main accused were arrested later from Gujarat.
Rizvi was arrested from Bareilly on 22 October and he was charged with helping the two main accused - Moinuddin and Ashraf, after they had killed Tiwari in Lucknow.
Rizvi gave shelter to the two accused and even ensured treatment of one of them who had been injured. He also provided them financial assistance.
About a dozen others who were arrested along with Rizvi are still in jail.
Meanwhile, Kiran Tiwari, wife of slain Kamlesh Tiwari and now the Hindu Samaj Party president said that the release of Rizvi was "unfortunate and shocking".
She said, "He has been released in less than two months. Recently, I have received a letter with death threat to me but the government is least concerned about our security."
(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)