BENGALURU: The special investigation team probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has closed in on two men who it believes masterminded her murder in front of her Benglauru residence on September 5, 2017. Sources in the SIT said their personnel are lying in wait for the two masterminds at various locations in Maharashtra . These two men, along with a third person who later died of illness, issued the order to kill Gauri.

With 12 accused already in custody and Nihal, alias Dada, the 13th, still evading the police, the SIT believes it is about to wrap up the probe with these two arrests. “These three Maharashtrabased men issued orders to kill Gauri. The orders were given to Amol Kale, a Pune resident. Kale formed the core team which planned the murder with Sujit Kumar, alias Praveen, and Amit Degvekar a’s deputies. The pistol used for the murder was supplied to Kale by the three masterminds,” SIT sources said.

They added Kale was appointed “commander” for Karnataka region and assigned the task of saving Hindutva by killing those who spoke against the religion. Inputs from Maharashtra police revealed that the dead mastermind, Kaka, mentored Kale.

“Kaka brainwashed Kale, saying nothing is wrong in killing a person to save Hinduism. Kaka died of an illness a couple of months ago. We’re looking for the other two men,” SIT sources said. Meanwhile, an ACMM court in Bengaluru on Monday remanded Belagavi resident Bharath Kurne, 37, in police custody for 11 days.

The SIT had arrested Kurne on August 5 from Belagavi on suspicion that he was a co-conspirator. Kurne allegedly sheltered Kale and his associates, including Sindagi youth Parashuram Waghmore, allegedly the one who pulled the trigger on Gauri, in his hotel.

