Gauri Lankesh Murder Case: SIT Arrests 12th Accused
This is the 12th arrest made by the SIT out of the 13 named for planning and executing Lankesh’s murder.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Karnataka Police probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh arrested a 37-year-old vegetable farmer who runs a small dhaba in Belagavi on Thursday, 9 August, on charges of playing a central role in the execution of the crime.
The SIT’s probe has found that Bharat Kurne alias Tomatar was part of a two-man team which waited in a car for the shooter and an accomplice to finish the murder and drove them away to a safehouse on the outskirts of Bengaluru, The Indian Express reported.
Sources in SIT told The Indian Express that Kurne was part of the four-man team involved in executing Lankesh’s murder and allegedly has links to a Hindutva fringe group in Maharashtra.
This is the 12th arrest made by the SIT out of the 13 named for planning and executing Lankesh’s murder.
The arrest comes roughly a fortnight after the SIT arrested the 11th accused, a 36-year-old private school teacher, who had helped the accused in locating Lankesh’s house.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar on the night of 5 September, 2017. She had sustained three bullet wounds which proved fatal.
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