BENGALURU: A week after the murder of activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh, the state government on Monday posted another 40 officers to crack the case. A 21-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by IGP BK Singh was formed to probe the case. Now, the SIT will have 61 officers.A senior officer in the Home department told Express that Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy is monitoring the case on a daily basis. Although the SIT is yet to make a breakthrough, the officers are said to be looking into all angles, including the involvement of left or right wing extremists. The team also gathered information from Gauri’s friends and those working at her tabloid office, but have made no headway yet.
Apart from adding more officers to the team, the state home department had also put police stations across the state on alert, asking officers to look for clue that can help nab the killers and to report people who . The SIT is also working with police in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
“There are several possibilities to solve the case. The team is working on it and we have not lost hope,’’ said a senior officer in the government. “It will take time to nab the killers who we suspect to be professionals,” the officer added.
A sources from the Home department said that the investigation is on the right track and a positive result is expected to come out in the next few days, adding that a senior officer had given evidence to the SIT that could lead to a breakthrough in the case. Meanwhile, a team gathered more CCTV footage from the neighbouring area to analyse movements of the attackers.
BOX
FSL experts from all Metro cities share a list of contract killers
On Sunday, a team made a list of supari killers who were caught in earlier cases and their networks. “We believe the assailants hatched the plot more than four months ago. We have contacted FSL experts in all metro cities across the country to share information on professional killers,” the officer added.
‘Naxals have nothing to do with Gauri’s murder’
Bengaluru: Reformed Naxal leader Sirimane Nagraj and Sridhar said the allegations that Naxals murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh are baseless. Addressing a joint press conference on Monday, the duo said media reports stating that Naxal Chief Vikram Gowda executed the murder of Gauri is far from truth as the organisation has never killed any journalist.
If they do so, they will immediately release papers owning to the incident, they said. They added that on many occasions, Naxals have abducted government officials but never killed them. They alleged that Sangh Parivar is behind the murder and added that a few media organisations are misleading the investigation and it is wrong on part of the Home minister to order
a probe into the Naxal angle.