The Karnataka Police’s Special Investigation Team looking into the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh arrested one more person in Kodagu district on Tuesday. Rajesh Bangera had allegedly trained the killers in using guns, The Indian Express reported.
Lankesh was killed outside her home in Bengaluru in September 2017.
A magistrate sent 50-year-old Bangera, who works in the state government’s education department, to police custody for 13 days. Apart from training the killers, he is also accused of supplying cartridges to members of a covert group linked to Hindutva outfit Sanatan Sanstha and its affiliate Hindu Janajagruti Samiti.
With this, 10 suspects have been arrested so far. Three arrests in the case were made last week. On July 20, the police arrested 50-year-old Mohan Nayak from Dakshina Kannada district, followed by Amit and Ganesh two days later.
In June, Parashuram Waghmare, 26, was taken into custody from Sindhagi in Vijaypura district of the state. Before Waghmare, the police had arrested five people in connection with Lankesh’s murder – KT Naveen Kumar, Amol Kale, Manohar Edve, Sujeeth Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Degvekar.
A forensic report submitted to a Bengaluru court said that the same gun was used to kill Lankesh and Kannada writer MM Kalburgi, who was assassinated in Dharwad in Karnataka, in 2015.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!