Bengaluru: Over two months into the investigation of the murder of noted journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh at her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on September 5, Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy has assured that the killers will be behind bars in a few weeks as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) “knows who did it”.
While interacting with reporters at the Press Club here on Saturday, the Home Minister said the SIT had almost cracked the case and was gathering more evidence to make it water tight.
“We know who killed Gauri. Before nabbing the culprits, the SIT is gathering solid evidence to ensure the killers should not have a way out from the court, owing to the lack of evidence. I assure you, the case will be solved within weeks,” he said.
Responding to a question on why the investigation was taking a long time, Mr Reddy said that unlike investigation team’s approach in the cases of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M.M. Kalburgi, this time the SIT’s approach was strong.
“Years after the investigation started in Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi’s murders, the investigating agencies failed to gather any conclusive evidence, let alone making any arrests. But SIT in Gauri’s case has done an excellent job and had identified the killers,” he said, adding, the identity of the killers could not be disclosed at the moment due to security reasons. Eyewitness help sought for sketches Rejecting the BJP’s claim that the tilak on the forehead of one of the suspects, whose sketch was released by the SIT last month, was a deliberate attempt to target pro-Hindu outfits, Mr Reddy said that all the three sketches were prepared based on an eyewitness account. "The assassin was wearing a helmet when he pulled the trigger on Gauri. But he had come to recce the area a few hours before the crime. It was then a part of his face was captured on a CCTV camera and the face sporting tilak was also described by an eyewitness,” Mr Reddy added.
