BENGALURU: The Karnataka government on Friday, announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing clues to the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. The announcement was made by home minister Ramalinga Reddy after holding a meeting with the Special Investigation Team probing the case.
Gauri Lankesh was shot by unknown assailants on September 5 as she was opening the gates to her residence at Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru.
The Bengaluru cyber crime police on Thursday arrested a 22-year-old unemployed youth for posting an objectionable comment on the social media soon after Gauri Lankesh was shot dead. He was booked under the Information Technology Act on charges of publishing obscene material in an electronic form. A mobile phone and two SIM cards have been seized, and police are ascertaining whether he had any links with any organisation.
The arrested man has been identified as Mallanagouda Biradhar alias Malli Arjun, a native of Narayanapura village in Yadgir district. A senior police officer said soon after Gauri's murder, he put up a derogatory post in Kannada, which translated to "one is gone..others will also meet the same fate."
Further, he also commented that there was no need to sacrifice life for religion when you can kill those who are against religion.
A suo motu case was registered after noticing his objectionable posts on Facebook and he was nabbed at Chandra Layout near Vijayanagar. He told police he had come to Bengaluru two months ago to search for a job after completing a diploma in civil engineering. He was residing at a friend’s house and his mobile phone and two SIM cards were seized.