BENGALURU: Two days after journalist Gauri Lankesh (55) was gunned down at her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru, police are yet to get any credible information that can lead them to her killers. While the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by IGP B K Singh started the probe on Thursday by visiting her residence to gather information, sources in the department said that the police have not managed to get any clue about the assailants or even the motive.
CCTV footage that the investigators considered as a crucial piece of information too seems to have not given any clue.
All that they got from the footage: a person wearing a black jacket and helmet fired at her. Since neither his face nor the vehicle on which he came was visible, the police are finding it difficult to get anything much from it. They, however, are examining CCTV footage from different locations.
“It is a challenging case. The team is not even sure about the number of assailants. No clue was found at the spot except empty cartridges. The CCTV footage too has not given any leads,’’ an officer told Express. “It is even more complicated than Prof Kalburgi’s case as motive, in that case, was clear.”
A senior officer said the SIT is going through call records, details in Gauri’s laptop and a diary found at her residence.
The postmortem report revealed that four rounds were fired at Gauri from close range. She died on the spot as her heart was ruptured due to a bullet injury, while two bullets entered her abdomen. The body bore three entry and exit marks as bullets had passed through the body. The bullet that ruptured her heart was fired from behind. One misfired and hit the wall.
Officers in the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) said they are yet to get empty cartridges, bullets, CCTV footage or any materials for examination.
‘Ideological differences led to Gauri’s death’
Kavitha Lankesh said it is definitely ideological differences that led to her sister’s death. When asked whether there was a threat to Gauri’s life, she said that Gauri had mentioned about it but never took it seriously. “We never thought she was that big in society to meet such an end,” she added
‘Don’t know who is behind the murder’
Indrajith Lankesh said, “Maybe the right wing extremists or even left wing. Initially, we all thought it was handiwork of right wing extremists. Media reports too suggested that. But later on, there was talk of left wing extremists. We don’t know who is behind this. The investigation is on,” he said.