Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday said the special investigation team (SIT) probing the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh had “definite clues” and “has identified those who carried out the murder.”
However, he refused to disclose details, saying this would hamper the investigation, which was at a crucial stage.
Crucial for charge sheet
While Mr. Reddy made those comments at a public function in Bengaluru, when contacted later by The Hindu he reiterated that “the team [SIT] now has definite clues and it knows who are the people behind the murder. However, the process of gathering evidence is on, and this will be crucial for the charge sheet.”
Sources in the SIT said details would be made public once evidence was collated.
October 5 will mark one month of the killing of Gauri Lankesh, Editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, outside her home in the city.
The motorcycle-borne assailant, wearing a helmet, fired four rounds at her from a country-made pistol and is suspected to have had an accomplice.
In the past few weeks, the SIT has interviewed and questioned several members of Hindu radical outfits, people connected to Gauri Lankesh, among others.
Sources in the SIT said a team had stationed itself in Vijayapura on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border to gather information on the flourishing illegal sale of firearms in the city. The 7.65-mm cartridges, fired from country-made pistol, led the team to Vijayapura.
Actor denies rreports
Actor Prakash Raj, a friend of Gauri Lankesh, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the murder was “chilling” and has “hurt” him.
The actor released a video on Monday to deny reports that he was returning his national awards in protest against the killing.
He said that while the identity of the killers of Gauri Lankesh and other rationalists was yet to be ascertained, he could see who was celebrating.
“I am pained, taken aback by the celebrations of an inhuman killing... I have been trolled and abused [for my views]... If such people are followed by the Prime Minister and he is not commenting on this, then as a citizen, I am disturbed, hurt and afraid of [his] silence,” he said.
Mr. Raj clarified that he had never said he would give back the national awards that were given for a body of work that “he remains proud of.”
Published - October 02, 2017 06:25 pm IST
