BENGALURU: The state government has decided to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the death of noted journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh.Addressing the media after a meeting with Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy and senior police officers on Wednesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said: “To get the case resolved at the earliest, we have decided to form an SIT to probe this case alone. All elements of the shooting point to the fact that it was an organised crime.” The SIT will be headed by an officer of Inspector General rank.
He said while the murders of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Kalburgi were committed with country-made pistols, the weapon used in Gauri’s murder was foreign-made.
“This is too early to draw conclusions. As of now, we have recovered footage from the four CCTV cameras installed around the house. One of it has caught the entire episode. She was shot by one helmeted assailant at close range,” he explained.
Siddaramaiah admitted that they should have caught Kalaburagi’s killers by now. “But I would not say that police have failed miserably,” he added. Over Gauri’s family’s demand for a CBI probe, he said he was open to the idea. “Let us see how the SIT works out. If the family insists, then I am agreeable to a CBI investigation too,” he said. He said two people were being questioned in Chikkamagalur over their posts on Facebook.
RaGa speaks to Siddu
AICC V-P Rahul Gandhi spoke with the CM to know details of the crime. Rahul later tweeted, “Anybody who speaks against the RSS/BJP is attacked and even killed. They want to impose only one ideology which is against the nature of India. Sometimes the PM speaks under pressure but the entire idea is to crush dissent and this is resulting in a serious problem in India.”