Bengaluru: It looks like things are finally moving forward with regard to the Gauri Lankesh murder case, as two of the accused who were arrested have been booked by the Bengaluru police. The chargesheet was submitted by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) at the Third Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on Wednesday, May 30.
The two, KT Naveen KUmar alias Hotte Manja and Praveen alias Suchit Kumar have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 for murder, 118 for concealing design to commit offence, 114 for criminal abetment, 120B for criminal conspiracy and 35 for criminal intent. They have also been charged under the Arms Act under sections 3 for acquisition or possession and 25 for selling, transferring, converting of arms.
Journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at point blank range on the night of September 5, 2017 in front of her house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. An SIT was formed to crack the case and a few months later on February 18, Naveen Kumar was arrested and booked under the Arms Act by the Upparpet police for possession of weapons and ammunition. Praveen was also arrested by the same police after his name popped up during the course of the investigation.
Investigators believe that Praveen and Naveen are the ones who were caught on the CCTV footage.
The SIT has said in a press release on Wednesday, that they have sufficient evidence to prove the charges against the two accused. The preliminary chargesheet of over 650 pages, includes 131 witnesses including forensic experts and statements by doctors who performed the autopsy, officers present at the scene of the crime and Lankesh’s family members.
