In a shocking incident, senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, a well-known critic of the right wing forces, was shot dead at her house in Bengaluru.

Sources said Lankesh was followed by people in a car after she left her office in Basavanagudi at 7.30 pm.

When she was entering her house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, 3-4 people attacked the scribe after which she succumbed to multiple bullet injuries.

Gauri Lankesh was the editor of weekly Kannada tabloid magazine Lankesh Patrike, columnist in newspapers, a panelist on TV channels besides being an activist.

Lankesh was critical of the Hindutva brigade and was last year convicted in a defamation case filed by MP Pralhad Joshi who had objected to a report against BJP leaders.

Lankesh's brother Indrajit told India Today that the case should be handed over to CBI as she had several defamation cases against her.

The truth will never be silenced. Gauri Lankesh lives on in our hearts. My condolences &love to her family. The culprits have to be punished ; Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) September 5, 2017

Karnataka police chief R K Dutta said Lankesh had not voiced apprehension about any threat to her life during a couple of meetings he had with her.

Karnataka's new Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who rushed to the spot with the city Police Commissioner, told reporters that the assailants probably fired seven rounds.

"Within minutes, seven rounds were fired at close range. She was attacked outside her residence. As she had not sought police protection, no security was provided to her," Reddy said.

Incidentally, Assembly election in Karnataka are due next year.

The case is reminiscent of murder cases of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Kalburgi. Dabholkar was shot on August 20, 2013, in Pune, while Pansare was shot on February 16 in Kolhapur and died on February 20, 2015. Fingers had been raised on radical Hindu outfits.

Karnataka scholar, rationalist and teacher MM Kalburgi, who had spoken against superstitions in Hinduism, was shot dead in a similar fashion as Lankesh outside his residence in 2015.

Pansare, Kalburgi and now Gauri Lankesh!Same pattern: shot by masked menSame motive: Silence voices of dissent?Same forces? https://t.co/CYrOMeuTgX ; Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 5, 2017

#Visual of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru's Rajarajeshwari Nagar (Pic Source: Local media) pic.twitter.com/sV2S9DWyjg ; ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed shock at the murder of the renowned journalist saying he has lost a friend.

"I have no words to condemn this heinous crime. In fact, this is an assassination on democracy. In her passing, Karnataka has lost a strong progressive voice, and I have lost a friend," he said.

Candlelight vigil in Karnataka's Gulbarga for Senior Journalist #GauriLankesh who was shot dead this evening in Bengaluru's RR Nagar. pic.twitter.com/2t8nbpWKO2 ; ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2017

The Indian Women's Press Corps (IWPC) expressed its deep shock and outrage at the brazen and dastardly killing of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh.

"The silencing of a journalist in this manner has dangerous portents for Indian democracy. The IWPC demands that the government apprehend the perpetrators at the earliest and expose those behind this planned murder of a senior woman journalist," a statement from the body said.

(Additional inputs from Supriya Bhardwaj)

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