Gauri Lankesh Killing: SIT has got clues: K’tka Home Minister
BANGALURU : Karnatka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy today claimed the Special Investigation Team probing the killing of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh has got clues and is in the process of gathering evidence. Gauri Lankesh, known to be an anti-establishment voice with strident anti-right wing views, was shot dead at close range by unknown assailants at her home here on the night of September 5.
“We have got clues, but we cannot tell things to the media for now because we should have correct evidence for the clues we have got,” he told reporters at Chikkaballapura. He said “If there is no proper evidence when we file a charge sheet at the court, it won’t stand. So we are trying to collect the evidence correctly… Our SIT is working towards gathering evidence.”However, Mr. Reddy refused to disclose details, saying this would hamper investigations which were at a crucial stage.
When contacted later he reiterated that “the SIT team now has definite clues and it knows who are the people behind the murder. However, the process of gathering evidence is ongoing, and this will be crucial for the charge sheet.” Sources in the SIT said details would be made public once the evidence was collated.
October 5 will mark one month since the killing of Lankesh, Editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, outside her home in Bengaluru. She was gunned down by an assailant wearing a helmet, on the evening of September 5. The assailant, whose identity has remained a mystery, fired four rounds at her from a country-made pistol and is suspected to have had an accomplice.
The two are suspected to have escaped from the scene of crime on a motorcycle. In the past few weeks, the SIT has interviewed and questioned several members of Hindu radical outfits, people connected to Lankesh among others.
The Minister had on September 9 made similar claims about SIT having gathered “some clues” in connection with the case, as he expressed hopes of nabbing the culprits soon. The Karnataka government, which has constituted the SIT headed by IGP (Intelligence) B K Singh, has announced a Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone who gives clues about the killing that led to outrage and protests.
As a political slugfest broke out over the killing, her family had pleaded against giving a political colour to it. The family had said the investigators should look into all angles behind Gauri’s killing, whether it was right-wing or Naxals, as reports have emerged about a possible Naxal hand, other than suspected involvement of right-wing extremists, the ideology Gauri opposed. (With Agency Inputs ).
