Senior journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavitha Lankesh said she does not believe Naxalites were behind the murder. Her statement at a press conference in Bengaluru on Thursday comes as a debate rages on who the killers could be.
“On the first day, it was reported that the right-wing was behind the murder,” her brother Indrajith Lankesh said. “The next day, there were reports in the media and from even the home minister about a possible Naxalite connect. I just know what you all know.”
Kavitha Lankesh said her sister had devoted her time towards rehabilitating the Naxalites. “But if they attacked her, I’d like to say I’m ashamed of them.”
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in the city’s Rajarajeshwarinagar area on Tuesday night. Unidentified men fired at least four shots at her before escaping on a motorcycle. The Bengaluru Police have found four cartridges and fragments of the bullets suspected to have been fired at the journalist, but are yet to find clues about her attackers.
The family said they have no preferences about which agency investigates the murder, but only want to find Gauri Lankesh’s killers. The family made it clear that they did not want parties to politicise the murder.
Days before she was shot, Gauri Lankesh had told her mother she thought someone was lurking outside her house, Kavitha Lankesh said. “Gauri had no enemies. All her battles were ideological.”
Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken critic of Hindutva groups, edited and published a Kannada newspaper called Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She also wrote widely in the English press.
Gun used is of the same make that killed Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar
A 7.65 mm country-made pistol was used to shoot Gauri Lankesh. It is the same kind of weapon used in the killing of Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi on August 30, 2015, at Dharwad, and in the murders of Maharashtra rationalists Govind Pansare in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015, and Narendra Dabholkar in Pune on August 20, 2013, The Indian Express reported.
On Wednesday, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered a Special Investigation Team to look into possible connections between the cases.
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