BENGALURU: Within a week after journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence on September 5, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy claimed they had information about the killers and they would be nabbed soon. His statement was taken seriously by many, who genuinely believed that the police were close to cracking the case. But, as weeks turned to months, cops had no clue about the killers.
While the SIT was groping in the dark, looking for information, the minister on his part, seemed very ‘confident’ and continued with his “we are close to nabbing Gauri’s killers” statements, which left many even in the department, baffled.
But, it didn’t stop at that. Later on Wednesday, Reddy informed the Council again that they were close to cracking the case -- and said it with a lot of confidence. “I have 100 per cent confidence that the people behind the murder will be pulled up. We are very close to solving the case.
We have clues. We know the people and are collecting the evidence,” he added. Justifying the time taken to gather information about the killers, Reddy said “in Dhabolkar murder case, police nabbed a person without evidence, and the case was dropped in the court. In Gauri’s case, we do not want such mistakes to happen, so we are collecting evidence,’’ he added. But every time, Reddy says they are close to cracking the case, those tracking the progress of the probe, want to know -- just how close?
Close, Closer, Closest
The minister at it:
September 2017: “SIT has got clues in Gauri Lankesh murder case”
October 2017: “We know the killers…”
November 2017: “Gauri’s killer will be nabbed within a few weeks.”
Govt mulls capital punishment for rapists
Bengaluru: The state government is contemplating to bring a stringent law against rapists of minors. It is planning to implement capital punishment for such men. Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said the Madhya Pradesh government had recently passed a bill in this regard. “We are thinking of bringing a similar law here. I have got the files from Madhya Pradesh and now I am seeking legal opinion,” he said.
Agri Gold land to be auctioned
Investors who have lost their savings by investing in Agri Gold company can expect some relief as the state government has agreed to exercise the option of auctioning the land of Agri Gold and compensate the investors. The issue rocked the Assembly on Wednesday as NA Harris (Congress) raised the issue and demanded action to help the investors. Leader of the Opposition Jagadish Shettar suggested the government to auction the Agri Gold land confiscated near Ramanagaram and distribute it to the investors.