Four more arrests in Gauri Lankesh murder

Team Udayavani, May 30, 2018, 1:16 PM IST

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case will soon arrest Praveen alias Sujith as the second accused. Praveen was arrested by Upparpet police in Bengaluru in an illegal arms case on May 19, and will soon be arrested in the Gauri Lankesh case on Wednesday.

Praveen and K.T. Naveen Kumar are alleged to have conducted a reconnaissance of Gauri’s house prior to her murder. Naveen was arrested by the SIT on March 9 and Praveen was named as the second accused in the case then. Senior SIT officials confirmed that the Praveen arrested by Upparpet police was the one they were looking for. The SIT will also file a charge sheet against Naveen Kumar in a city court on Wednesday, since a considerable amount of evidence had been gathered to support his role in Lankesh’s murder.

Along with Praveen, three other people hailing from Maharastra were arrested. They have been identified as Amit Degwekar, Manohar Dundappa Evade and Amol Kale and are said to be sharpshooters, though their role in the murder is still not clear. SIT sources said that Naveen and Praveen were the locals providing information and support while the persons who shot Gauri came from another State, probably Maharastra. Their first target was rational thinker K.S. Bhagwan in Mysuru, for which they had even had a shooting practice in the Chamarajanagar forests. Later, when security was tightened around Bhagwan, the target shifted to Gauri Lankesh, said SIT.