The son of Kannada writer MM Kalburgi on Wednesday said that his mother has identified one of the accused involved in the murder of the rationalist in a test identification parade, The Indian Express reported. Kalburgi, a Kendriya Sahitya Akademi awardee and anti-superstition activist, was shot dead at his home in Dharwad district in Karnataka on August 30, 2015.
“She identified the culprit in the identification parade today,” Shreevijay Kalburgi told The Indian Express. “The name of the person who was identified was not disclosed to us.”
However, reports said that the man identified by Kalburgi’s wife Umadevi Kalburgi is also the one involved in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh. Lankesh was killed outside her home in Bengaluru in September 2017.
“The SIT will soon submit the charge sheet in the Kalburgi case,” an unidentified official told The New Indian Express.
A forensic report submitted by the investigators to a Bengaluru court earlier had said the same gun was used to kill both Kalburgi and Lankesh. Umadevi Kalburgi had also claimed that the same people behind the murders of activists Govind Pansare on February 16, 2015, in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur, and the killing of Narendra Dabholkar on August 20, 2013, in Pune had killed her husband.
In March, the Supreme Court had directed that the murder case of Kalburgi be transferred to the same special investigation team that is looking into Lankesh’s killing. In February, the Supreme Court had noted that the murders of Kalburgi, Lankesh, Dabholkar and Pansare were part of a “very serious case”. However, Lankesh’s sister Kavitha Lankesh had challenged the suggestion to club the investigations.
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!