Sringeri MLA DN Jeevaraj to be quizzed over speech after Gauri Lankesh’s murder

BENGALURU: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted to nab the killers of Gauri Lankesh is set to question BJP MLA from Sringeri, D N Jeevaraj, in the backdrop of his controversial speech at Koppa, Chikkamagaluru, after the journalist’s killing.

“The SIT has been instructed to question Jeevaraj in the light of his speech to ascertain why he made such remarks. What does it (speech) imply,” Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy told reporters after a review meeting with the SIT.

Jeevaraj, at a meeting in Koppa taluk, had said that if only Gauri had refrained from writing articles like celebrating ‘chaddigala marana homa’ (massacre of RSS workers) in her tabloid, she would probably have been alive today.

However, speaking to Express, Jeevaraj said he has not received any notice from SIT so far and expressed his readiness to defend himself with the full text of his speech which has been recorded by the police. “My speech has been misinterpreted and is being used to mislead the line of investigation,” Jeevaraj said.

The MLA though regretted the wording of the speech, which he said was made in a hurry as the police were about to take him into custody at a protest rally against the Siddaramaiah government. “The real meaning of the speech will be understood if the entire speech is heard and if police go by the spirit of the speech instead of specific words,” he said.

“In my speech, I have said that if only Gauri had condemned the killings of RSS workers, from Rudresh to Sharat Madivala, and Leftist ideologues like Dr M M Kalburgi, if she had criticised the failures of the Siddaramaiah government in nabbing the killers of any one of these people who were murdered, she would have been alive today,” Jeevaraj said.