After the arrest of KT Naveen Kumar-suspect in Gauri Lankesh’s murder, BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje has accused the state government of falsely framing a “Hindu youth”.
In a landmark development in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, the Karnataka police arrested the accused man KT Naveen Kumar on Friday.
Earlier this month, the Special Investigation Team constituted by the Karnataka government had detained him for questioning. After as much as six months after the murder of journalist and social activist Gauri Lankesh, Kumar-a 37 years old man was identified as the first accused. He is believed to have connections with right-wing groups.
The Magistrate Court of Bengaluru on Friday ordered to send KT Naveen Kumar to SIT custody for five more days. It is expected that more details will be revealed during the probe.
The Karnataka police’s Organised Crime Wing held Kumar on February 18 when he was reportedly, on his way to sell firearms. KT Naveen Kumar is a native of Mandya district which is 100 km from the state’s capital Bengaluru.
On September 5, 2017, a man wearing helmet shot down the 55 years old Gauri Lankesh outside her house in Bengaluru West. According to police reports, she was shot with a 7.65 mm country-made pistol.
Gauri Lankesh was the editor in chief of “Lankesh Patrike” and a known critique of the right wing. Earlier, a CCTV footage has been recovered by the SIT team during the investigation in which a man is seen conducting a recce of her house few hours before her murder. The SIT team believes that the physical appearance of the man found in CCTV matches the appearance of Kumar.
While the Siddaramaiah government was so far slammed for not finding any strong lead in the case, now after the arrest of KT Naveen Kumar, BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje has accused the state government of falsely framing a “Hindu youth”.
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