Gauri Lankesh’s CCTV footage: Helmeted man in black jacket shoots her with foreign-made weapon

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said, it was decided to entrust the probe to a special team led by an officer of the rank of inspector-general in order "to provide greater momentum to the investigation”.

After hearing about the tragic incident, M Kavitha Lankesh, sister of Gauri Lankesh, arrived with her daughter at Gauri's residence in RR Nagar in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: CCTV footage from the area where senior journalist Gauri Lankesh was assassinated on Tuesday evening shows that it was a man wearing a black jacket who shot her at close range and fled the scene.

There were four CCTV cameras installed at Gauri Lankesh’s house. Two of them were in the front portion of the house where she was shot dead. One of the cameras captured the entire episode.

Gauri Lankesh was shot by one helmeted assailant at close range. She took a few steps towards the house and collapsed, chief minister Siddaramaiah told reporters on Wednesday.

Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy said the police have gathered crucial clues to the assailant and said an arrest would be made soon.

Gauri lankesh was gunned down by bike-borne assailants at her residence in the Ideal Homes Layout in Rajarajeshwari Nagar locality in Bengaluru.

Watch Video: Slain journalist Gauri Lankesh's body at Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru

The government has decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the assassination. Chief minister Siddaramaiah said rather than hand the case over to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) as is normally done, it was decided to entrust the probe to a special team led by an officer of the rank of inspector-general in order "to provide greater momentum to the investigation”.

Three teams of detectives have been set up to nab the suspects and so far footage from more than 30 CCTVs in the locality has been examined. Local people have been interviewed about any suspicious movements they may have noticed in the locality where Gauri Lankesh lived.

Asked about the parallels between the murder of rationalist writer M M Kalburgi and the killing of Gauri Lankesh, Siddaramaiah said while the murders of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalaburgi were committed with crude pistols, the weapon used in the Gauri Lankesh murder was foreign-made.

Asked about the family's demand that the case be handed over to the CBI, he said he was open to the idea. "I have an open mind on this. Let us see how the SIT works out. If the family is insistent, then I am OK with a CBI investigation too," he said.

Protests were held in different parts of Karnataka to condemn the murder. In Bengaluru, protests were held at Town Hall by writers and at Press Club by different journalist organisations.