Chargesheet in Kalburgi case likely on Aug 19
BENGALURU: Once considered a ‘dead end’ case, the investigation into the murder of scholar MM Kalburgi is finally set to see the light of day. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is likely to file a chargesheet in a special court in Dharwad on August 19, official sources told The New Indian Express.
“The same module comprising members of some fringe radical right-wing groups in Maharashtra and North Karnataka with affiliation to Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, which was behind the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh is also reportedly behind the murder of Kalburgi. They targeted Kalburgi and Gauri for their alleged anti-Hindu views and used the same contraband 7.65mm pistol in both the murders,” a police officer said.
Amol Kale, a former member of fringe right group Hindu Jan Jagruti Samiti (HJJS) and accused number one in the Gauri case, is reportedly the prime accused in the Kalburgi murder case as well.An incense stick maker from Hubbali and alleged killer of Kalburgi - Ganesh Miskin - is also a key accused in the Gauri case. Another suspect - Praveen Prakash Chatur - has been accused of driving Miskin on a stolen motorcycle on the fateful morning of August 30, 2015 in Dharwad.According to the SIT investigation, Chatur waited on the bike while Miskin posing as Kalburgi’s student shot the scholar point blank in his house on August 30, 2015.Last month, Kalburgi’s wife Umadevi identified Miskin.
Kale is the alleged linchpin in the murder cases of two rationalists in Maharashtra - Prof Narendra Dabholkar in Pune and Comrade Govind Pansare in Kolhapur. The SIT, which was set up to investigate the Gauri murder was directed by the Supreme Court to probe the Kalburgi case in February this year.
The case was earlier being investigated by the Karnataka Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The investigation into the Gauri case helped solve the four murder cases in Karnataka and Maharashtra.