New Delhi, March 5 (IANS): The Supreme Court on Thursday sought reply from the Uttar Pradesh government response on a plea seeking transfer of murder case of Hindu Samaj Party leader Kamlesh Tiwari from Lucknow to Delhi.

The advocate, representing the accused Ashfaq and others, urged the top court to intervene in the matter and sought direction to shift the trial from Lucknow to Delhi as the accused claimed that they fear for their lives in the state.

A bench, headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde, issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and sought its response on the matter.

In December, the Lucknow police had filed a charge sheet against 13 persons in the case. According to the police, the two main accused, Ashfaq and Moinuddin, have been charged with murder while 11 others were booked under other provisions of IPC, including sheltering the accused, cheating, and criminal conspiracy.

According to the charge sheet, the accused had conspired to kill Kamlesh Tiwari, for making a remark against Prophet Mohammad in 2015.

The accused in the charge sheet are Ashfaq, Moinuddin, Rashid Pathan, Faizan, Mohsin Sheikh, Sayeed Asif, Mohd Naved, Raees Ahmad, Asif Raza, Kamran, Yusuf Khan, Zafar Sadiq and Kaifi Ali.