A special police team investigating journalist Gauri Lankesh’s murder case saw a development. The police took a man into custody for questioning on Friday, nearly a fortnight after his arrest on a charge of possessing a pistol and live bullets in Karnataka capital Bengaluru.
The organised crime wing of the state police’s central crime branch had arrested KT Naveen Kumar, who in his late thirties, on February 18. The suspect is a native of Mandya district about 100 km from Bengaluru and he was on his way to sell the firearm.
Senior police officer MN Anucheth said the Special Investigation Team had taken Naveen Kumar into custody for interrogation today. However, he declined to give any further details.
According to local media reports, Naveen Kumar has been decribed as someone with links to extreme right-wing groups.
Gauri Lankesh, 55, was a senior journalist who was the right-wing ideology. She was a fierce advocate of secularism and was an editor Lankesh Patrike, a weekly newspaper. On the night of September 5 last year, Lankesh was shot dead at close range by unidentified men outside her home in Bengaluru. on the night of September 5 last year.
The lastest development in case came after Karnataka government had setup a probe team when the police was heavily criticised for failing to make any progress in the the murder of the senior journalist shot dead outside her Bengaluru house.
On the night of murder, security cameras recorded a man wearing a helmet to conceal his face when shet he shot her in the chest.
Later, Karnataka police had released sketches of two suspects and requested “public help” to put a name to their faces, however, there hadn’t been much of a headway. A reward of Rs. 10 lakh had also been announced for leads that lead to the arrest of the murderers.
According to reports, the police have investigated over 200 people in this case so far.