Journalist Gauri Lankesh and activist Govind Pansare's families are likely to oppose the move to hand over the investigation into their murders to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), reported The Hindu.
On 11 December, the Supreme Court observed that one investigating agency should probe the murder cases of Gauri Lankesh, Govind Pansare, Narendra Dhabolkar and MM Kalburgi to see if there is a link between their killings.
The apex court was hearing a petition by Lankesh’s family, demanding speedy investigation.
Lankesh's sister Kavita told The Hindu, she would plead in the Supreme Court to not transfer the case to CBI in the next hearing. She said that the family wanted the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to continue with the probe as they were the ones to decode the conspiracy of the killings.
“We want SIT to continue with the probe and not the CBI.”Kavita Lankesh
Pansare's daughter-in-law Megha also echoed the same view. She said that they were satisfied with the way the investigation was going and would not support the move to transfer the case.
The four murder cases are currently being investigated by different agencies. Karnataka and Maharashtra SITs are currently probing Lankesh and Pansare’s murders respectively.
Even the Bombay High Court, which is monitoring the probe into Pansare and Dhabolkar killings was wary of the CBI "given how Malegaon bomb blast and Sohrabuddin Sheikh fake encounter cases have ended up. Given the recent fiasco, the agency does not instill confidence."
(With inputs from The Hindu)
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