Sixth suspect arrested in Gauri Lankesh murder, police yet to confirm his role in case”.
“Waghmare’s is the sixth arrest in connection with the killing of Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in front of her house in Bengaluru on September 5th last year.”
In a major breakthrough in the murder case of journalist Gauri Lankesh, SIT (special investigation team) sleuths took into custody a suspected shooter identified as Parashuram Waghmare on Monday, June 11.
The 26-year-old Parashuram, a Marathi-speaking man, reportedly hails from Sindagi, Vijaypura district in Karnataka.
While some reports claimed that he was detained from Sindagi itself, a few said he was nabbed in Maharashtra.
He was presented before the 3rd ACMM court following which the judge remanded him to 14 days in custody. The SIT told the court that he was directly involved in the crime.The SIT also arrested his alleged accomplice Sunil Agasara.
The accused, Parashuram Wagmare, is a member of the right-wing group Sri Rama Sene.
However Sri Rama Sene Chief Pramod Muthalik denies that he is not a member of Sri Rama Sene we have nothing to do with it let police do a thorough investigation and find out who is he and what is his background he added.
Wagmare is from a small town, Sindagi, in Vijayapura district in northern Karnataka and used to run a mobile phone shop there. Sunil used to irons clothes for a living in Sindagi.
Going by the descriptions of the features of the shooter in the case – as given by witnesses so far and the CCTV evidence on his height, weight and other characteristics the SIT suspects that this short stocky man was the one who pulled the trigger on Lankesh.
However, his exact role was not mentioned by the prosecutor while seeking his custody in court.The ten-minute hearing only had the SIT counsel seeking his custody for questioning.The magistrate asked the accused if he wants access to legal aid through the court, but he declined.
On September 5, 2017, two bike-borne men had accosted writer-activist Gauri Lankesh just as she returned home from her office, and shot her four times. One bullet had missed her, three others hit her, the last one proving fatal.
Police said,he Waghmare was also accused of hoisting Pakistan’s flag on the office of Sindagi’s revenue officer along with six others to foment Hindu–Muslim tensions in the town in 2012.The next day, he and his co-activists of the Sri Rama Sene had held protests outside the taluk office against the hoisting of such a flag and even tried to manhandle the district police superintendent. However, the police had quickly arrested the culprits and foiled their plans. A local court had dismissed the case later he added.
Wagmare’s friend Rakesh told media persons that he had nothing to do with the murder and had never even been to Bengaluru in the past. We can’t believe that he is the real killer. Normally he used to be at Sindagi. If the police have any evidence, they should produce it before us,” he said. He claimed that Wagmare was actually picked up by the police three days ago. He even requested the Hindu society to rise against the government he added.
sources say they are still on the look-out for at least three more co-conspirators in the case, so the investigation is not closed yet.
At a press conference in Bengaluru today, Gowda and Muthalik released the first page of a letter from the Forensic Science Department in Gandhinagar where Naveen had been sent after he agreed to go through a polygraph test in April. The letter includes the gist of Naveen’s verbal statement that he did not supply the gun or bullets for Ms Lankesh’s killing and that he was not involved in her murder which states that,Kumar had denied any role in the murder of Lankesh.Kumar was taken to Gandhinagar for polygraph and other tests, but he refused permission just before it was conducted.The report says that Kumar only knew of Lankesh as a reporter and that his interest in her was only out of curiosity.After the murder, he started taking interest in the case.When police took him to her house he came to know about her house.Further, the report adds, that he had never spoke about Lankesh to anybody and that he did not have any feelings towards her either of happiness or sadness, and claimed that he was under mental pressure.According to the report, he was only not a “big Hindu” and did not plan to murder Bhagwan either.However, in his statement to the FSL in Gujarat he said he did know Praveen, who he met at a function in Bengaluru.“He told openly that Praveen asked him once very casually if he could arrange a gun for him and he agreed. But he never provided the gun to him report states.
However, on Tuesday, SIT Investigation officer,DCP,M.N.Anucheth, immediately responded by releasing the second page of the letter from Directorate of Forensic Science in Gandhinagar, Gujarat,which says the second half of the report clearly indicates he refused undergo polygraph test inspite of him giving consent before the Court to undergo Polygraph, Narco Analysis and BEOS tests he added.
In addition to Praveen, three others are in custody for their alleged involvement in a plot to kill Mr Bhagawan. Among them Amit Degewekar, who was reportedly questioned in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case in Maharashtra.
The SIT is now looking at links between these men and Ms Lankesh’s murder. It is believed the plan was to kill Mr Bhagavan after Ms Lankesh as both were considered “anti-Hindu”.
Ten days back, based on their inputs, the SIT had sought and taken into custody four more persons. Among them are Sujith Kumar alias Praveen, who reportedly informed Naveen about the plot to kill Lankesh 15 days before the murder, as the person who ‘recruited’ people for the cause of Hindu dharma; Amol Kale, a Pune resident who is said to have been the main planner who “identified targets”; Amit Degvekar, a Hindutva activist who lived at the Sanatan Sanstha’s ashram in Ponda in Goa; and Manohar Edave, a resident of Vijayapura in north Karnataka.
The four persons will be in custody for questioning till June 14, while Parashuram will be in custody till the June 25.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her Bengaluru residence on September 5, 2017.
Earlier on June 5, Gauri Lankesh’s brother Indrajit Lankesh demanded a 360-degree investigation in connection to his sister’s murder case.
