The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of Journalist turned activist Gauri lanksh has arrested one more person on Thursday. According a press note issued by the SIT in Bengaluru they have arrested one more person Hl Suresh who hails from Tumakuru and was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by 3rd ACMM Court Judge before whom he was produced.
Suresh, 36, is the 11th person arrested so far by the SIT in the cold blooded murder of Gauri who was shot dead in front of her house in September last year.
According to sources, Suresh had lent his house on rent to prime accused Parushauram Wagmore.
SIT also arrested Rajesh Bangera on July 23 from Madikeri. He was personal assistant of a Congress Veena Achaiah, MlC from Madikeri.
A native of Palooru in Bettageri gram panchayat in Madikeri, Bangera also owns a coffee plantation. According to villagers, his family had migrated to Palooru from Dakshina Kannada district several years ago.
SIT sources, however, said that Bangera owned a registered gun and was an expert shooter. The SIT suspects that Bangera was the man hired by Amol Kale, who was instrumental in planning the murder, to train shooters from Karnataka to carry out executions of persons mentioned in Kale’s hit-list.
Police suspect that Bangera and Amol Kale were close associates and the two were instrumental in planning the murder. The police claim they have found Kale’s connection with Bangera after they found several contact number’s in Kale’s diary entries.
On Monday, the SIT produced before the court Amit Baddi, suspected to have provided the logistics, and Ganesh Miskin, a 27-year-old man from Hubbali suspected to have been the biker who brought Parashuram Waghmore, the alleged shooter, to Gauri’s residence. Ganesh and Amit have been remanded to police custody.
Earlier, the SIT had arrested Amit Degwekar from Goa, Sujeet Kumar from Shivamogga, Manohar Edave from Vijayapura, KT Naveen Kumar from Maddur and Mohan Nayak from Dakshina Kannada and KT Naveen Kumar in February.
Gauri lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar on the night of September 5, 2017. She had sustained three bullet wounds which proved fatal.
According to sources SIT has recovered a diary from Amol Kale and found a list of people to be targeted. According to SIT sources the diary revealed that the killers had prepared a list of people who are openly critical of Hinduism as their targets. On top of this list is the name of acclaimed Kannada writer, playwright, movie actor and director, Girish Karnad.