BENGALURU: KT Naveen Kumar, who is arrested by the SIT in connection with journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh murder, was under the SIT radar from the beginning of the probe.
SIT officials were confident that they can get to the mastermind of the conspiracy by keeping a tab on Naveen. But, the latter’s alleged conspiracy to eliminate another rationalist forced the police to pick him up, before they could get details of others involved in the case through call interceptions.
Sources in the SIT revealed that many persons who were closely associated with right-wing outfits were under the radar, as part of the probe.
“Similarly, we kept tab of Naveen’s activities and his phone calls were intercepted. Initially, there was no much doubts about him. But once we released the sketches and CCTV footage of suspects on October 14, 2017, he went underground for almost two months. As he was not using his mobile phone to contact his family members and friends, we grew suspicious. He again started using his mobile phone by the end of December."
"His phone interceptions revealed that he knew something about the murder. But, we did not pick him up immediately, as we had to gather more information about him and his activities. By January end, his call interceptions exposed his conspiracy to eliminate another rationalist. Even if we had delayed picking him up in February second week, he would have accomplished the job. Thus, we had no other option but to arrest him. His conspiracy for the murder became a hurdle for us to know the mastermind,” an official said.
Diverting attention
By bringing the CCB into picture, the SIT had also tried to divert media attention from Naveen. The SIT did everything but in the name of CCB.
A case under Arms Act was booked in Upparpet police station in connection with Naveen’s arrest. But, the SIT was still trying to get as much details as possible from Naveen about Gauri’s murder.
As they needed more time to get required details from him, they finally took him into their custody on March 2. As leads emerged in the case, they decided to arrest him in the case, the official added.