Bengaluru: While it has been claimed that more than one gunman was involved in the murder of senior journalist/ activist, Gauri Lankesh, Home Minister, Ramalinga Reddy said on Thursday that the CCTV clip recovered by the police showed just one assailant firing four bullets at her.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr Reddy, however, clarified that although the CCTv footage showed only one assailant, the police was not sure if he had accomplices, who were not within its range. He revealed that the doctors had removed three bullets from Ms Lankesh’s body and four bullets had been found at the scene of the crime.
Refusing to divulge any more details of the case, the Minister explained that leaking of any more information would affect the inquiry by the Special Investigation Team(SIT), which had already begun its inquiry.
To a question, the Minister said it was not possible to give the SIT any deadline to complete its investigation. Asserting that he had full confidence in the state police, he said it was irrelevant whether the CBI or the SIT investigated the case as the object was to nab those involved and bring them to justice.
When asked about the M.M. Kalburgi case, he said investigation into the murder of the rationalist (eerily similar to Ms Lankesh’s) was at its fag end. “In some cases, the investigation is delayed,” he added almost apologetically.
Maintaining that there was no law and order problem in Mangaluru, where the BJP was holding a rally, Mr Reddy said the situation was by and large peaceful despite the presence of 3000 rallyists. The police had taken enough security measures to make sure there was no trouble, he added.
