4 top leaders of pro-Hindutva outfit involved in Gauri Lankesh’s murder: SIT

Sources in the SIT suggest that the four leaders, one of them a retired Army Colonel, are being shielded and funded by the outfit.

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In another breakthrough in the murder investigation of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, the the SIT probing the case suspects that four top-level leaders of a pro-Hindutva outfit were the ones who conceived the plot to kill her and other rationalists.

According to a source in the SIT, after questioning the accused, it has been revealed that the six accused in the case were the executors of the murder plot and investigators have launched a hunt for four more persons connected to the murder.

“There is a suspicion that a retired Army Colonel, who became a member of a pro-Hindutva outfit is one of the four men who hatched the plot,” the SIT source added.

The SIT is in the process of gathering evidence against the four suspects and then nab them. These four suspects are suspected to have ordered Amol Kale, a suspect in the case, to kill Gauri Lankesh.

Initially, the investigation had revealed that Amol Kale was the handler of the other five accused. However, after Kale’s questioning, it seems more people were involved, the source said.

Kale is said to have received Rs 1.25 lakh per month to handle logistics for Lankesh’s murder.

“Amol Kale was shown several speeches made by Gauri Lankesh by these four persons. After instigating Kale, they convinced him that Gauri Lankesh was to be killed as she had made derogatory statements against the Hindu religion and Hindu gods,” the source added.

The SIT source said that these four men hold important positions in the a pro-Hindutva outfit and after the arrest of the six men – Amol Kale, Amit Degvekar, Manohar Edave, Sujeet Kumar, KT Naveen Kumar and Parashuram Waghmore, the pro-Hindutva organisation is trying to shield these four men.

“One of the people we are looking for is Nihal alias Dada. At least three of the four men are being shielded by this organisation which is funding them while they remain underground,” the SIT source added.

Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on September 5 last year.