Ahmedabad, Oct 22 (IANS): In a major breakthrough in the murder case of former Hindu Mahasabha leader Kamlesh Tiwari, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday said that it has arrested the two main accused from while they were trying to enter the state from Rajasthan.

According to the Gujarat Police, the ATS arrested the two suspects - identified as Ashfaqhussain Jakirhussain Shaikh, 34, and Moinuddin Khurshid Pathan, 27, both residents of Surat - from Shamlaji near the Gujarat-Rajasthan border. The ATS said that the duo were on the way to Gujarat after having reached Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur from Nepal.

The ATS officials said that Shaikh worked as a medical representative, while Pathan worked as a food delivery boy.

On the reasons for the murder, the ATS said primary investigation reveals that they had committed the crime "in retribution to purported statements by Tiwari".

On Monday, the Uttar Pradesh Police also identified the two assailants who had checked into a nearby hotel a day before committing the murder in Lucknow. According to the UP Police, they had checked out of the hotel barely an hour after brutally murdering the former Hindu Mahasabha leader on October 18, leaving behind their blood-soaked saffron kurtas and a blood-stained knife and other personal belongings in the hotel room.

The Gujarat ATS team, led by DIG Himanshu Shukla, said that the two were "apprehended on the basis of technical and physical surveillance mounted on their family members and acquaintances".

"The two had approached their family members and acquaintances for more funds after the money they had on them was finished," the ATS said.

A day after the murder of Tiwari, the ATS had arrested three persons in connection with the case. According to the Gujarat Police, the two arrested accused will be handed over to the UP Police.

UP's Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Avanish Awasthi also confirmed the arrests of the two suspects. They will be brought to Lucknow on Wednesday, he said.