BENGALURU: It was some time between 7.55pm and 8.05 pm on Tuesday evening when neighbours heard the sound of gun fire. Narrating her shocking experience, a woman who lives in an apartment complex opposite Gauri Lankesh’s house, but did not want to be identified, reveals what unfolded in the first 40 minutes.“I can say it was exactly between 7.55pm and 8.05 pm, as I was waiting for a serial to start at 8pm on a Kannada channel. A few seconds before the serial was about to start, I heard a sound but ignored it, thinking someone might have burst crackers,” she said.
Immediately after the serial started, she heard someone screaming and went to the balcony to check. “As there was darkness in Gauri’s residential premises, I could not recognise her and did not even realise what exactly has had happened. I rushed downstairs. When I reached, the caretaker of our building had gone to get water. I immediately called the other residents of our building. By 8.15 pm, one of the residents of our building informed the local police and called the ambulance. We did not offer water as she was bleeding and was unresponsive. We also saw some bullets on the premises,” she added.
Another woman who works as a caretaker at the apartment complex said, “The moment I heard the sound, I came out. No one was there when I reached. After seeing madam fallen, I called the residents. We brought water but did not offer it to her as she was bleeding heavily.”A schoolgirl who lives two buildings away was taking her dog for a walk at the time of the incident. She heard the sound and even her dog started barking. However, the girl refused to share any other information.
Dog squad not called in
Interestingly, no dog squad was brought to the murder scene on Tuesday. When asked about this, the local police said they had informed senior officials but were told that there was no need of a dog squad as there were FSL experts on spot.
Bullet ruptured Gauri’s heart, reveals autopsy
Bengaluru:The autopsy on journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has revealed that she died of heart rupture due to bullet injury. According to doctors who conducted the post-mortem on her for over two-and-half hours on Wednesday, and her brother Indrajit Lankesh, three bullets were shot at her and one of them entered the heart directly leading to rupture of the heart and instant death. “One thing that gives us relief is that she died an immediate death without much pain,” said Indrajit.
However, when questioned about the kind of bullets and injuries on Gauri, Dr Bheemappa Havanur, Head of Department of Forensic Medicine, Victoria Hospital, refused to divulge any information saying that it is a case of high-profile murder and information cannot be revealed as the investigation is in progress. Earlier in the morning, several personalities including Food and Civil Supplies Minister U T Khader, pontiff of Basava Math, Chikkamagalur, Jaya Basavananda Swami and others visited the mortuary and paid their last respects. Indrajit said that Gauri’s eyes were donated to Minto Ophthalmic hospital in Benglauru.