#GauriLankesh: SIT names Hindu right-wing outfit in the murder case
The special investigation team (SIT), probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, has named Hindu right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a city court in Bengaluru yesterday. The SIT submitted the 9,235-page charge sheet in the Principal Civil and Sessions court. The charge sheet stated that a network within the Sanatan Sanstha targeted Lankesh for no personal reasons.
Planning to kill Lankesh took place for almost 5 years
According to the charge sheet, the planning to kill Lankesh took place for almost five years. "The killer and the killed have no personal or any other enmity. Why she was killed? Because she believed in a certain ideology, she wrote and spoke on that. So, it must be an ideology and it must be an organization," said Special Public Prosecutor S Balan.
Killing of Lankesh last year triggered a nationwide outrage
The SIT has also sought permission to investigate further. The first charge sheet in the sensational case was filed in May'17. Lankesh, 55, known for her left-leaning and strong anti-Hindutva views was shot dead in front of her house in Bengaluru on September 5 last year, triggering a nationwide outrage. Soon after, the then Siddaramaiah-led government constituted the SIT to probe into the killing.
18 people have been accused in Lankesh killing so far
So far, 18 people have been accused in the crime, including shooter Parashuram Waghmare, masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen, and Amit Degwekar, said the SIT sources. The gang is suspected to be involved in the killing of three other rationalists MM Kalburgi (assassinated in 2015), Narendra Dabholkar (assassinated in 2013), and Govind Pansare (killed in 2015).
