Bengaluru: Day after the arrest of an accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka has termed the arrest a political gimmick. KT Naveen Kumar’s arrest on Friday is being seen as a breakthrough in the case, which comes almost six months after the shocking murder of the Karnataka-based journalist.
"This arrest is only a political gimmick. With this arrest, the Congress government wants to say that Gauri was murdered by Hindus. That is not correct. This government is anti-Hindu," said BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje.
Congress retorted saying her statements hints at the possibilities of her knowing Gauri Lankesh’s killers.
“If she is so sure that the killers are not Hindus, then she must also know who the killers are. In that case, let her reveal the information she has, or she should be charged with suppression of evidence," said Kengal Sreepada Renu, spokesperson, Karnataka Congress.
Kumar was reportedly associated with some right-wing Hindu organizations, although the Hindu Rakshana Vedike in Karnataka issued a press release distancing itself from the murder accused. According to police sources, Naveen Kumar has close links to several radical Hindu outfits and was reportedly angry with Gauri for "insulting" Hindu gods and goddesses.
Naveen was picked up by the crime branch on February 19 from a bus station in Bengaluru for illegal possession of bullets that were similar to the ones used to kill Gauri Lankesh. A local court has sent him to the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder.
The editor of a Kannada tabloid "Gauri Lankesh Pathrike", Lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. Gauri was a controversial journalist and activist who took on several Hindu radical outfits.
Comments
0 comment