Gauri Lankesh killing: K'taka home minister announces Rs 10 lakh reward for clue

Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by IGP (Intelligence) BK Singh, constituted to find the killers of senior journalist and social activist Gauri Lankesh has sought help from public to solve the crime.

Gauri Lankesh was murdered outside her Bengaluru residence on Tuesday evening.

In their twitter handle, Bengaluru Police has circulated a phone number and email id for people to share any information they might have on the case. "General public is requested, any information on #GauriLankeshkillers. Public can call or email @ 09480800202, sit.glankesh@ksp.gov.in," the tweet read.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, along with state Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday held a meeting with SIT to assess the progress of the investigation.

The state home minister on Friday announced Rs 10 lakh reward for any clue related to Gauri Lankesh murder.

Read: Gauri Lankesh murder: Forensic experts to reconstruct crime scene 

According to the source, the footage shows Gauri Lankesh parking her white Toyota Etios in front of the gate between 7.45-7.55 pm on Tuesday night. She steps out of the car, with the keys still in the ignition, to open the gate and park the car inside.

As she walks towards the gate, a man wearing a helmet and a jacket enters the frame, pulls out a pistol and fires a single shot at Gauri who had by then half-opened the gate.

Earlier, Kavita, sister of Gauri Lankesh, said she was optimistic that the killer will be nabbed soon. “Though we can’t give any deadline to them (SIT), we also cannot wait for two years like in the case of Dr MM Kalburgi. If nothing happens in two weeks, we will ask for a CBI probe.”

Read: CCTV footage shows one gunman targeting Gauri Lankesh

On Tuesday evening, seven bullets were fired at journalist Gauri Lankesh at her doorstep, when she was about to enter her Bengaluru house. Three bullets hit her – two in her chest and one in the forehead.

The investigating teams suspect the murder was well planned. 

"Usually, she left office and reached home only after 9 pm. But on Tuesday, she was early by an hour. But still the assailants managed to get her, which suggests that there was a proper ground work by them," an official said.

The location was an advantage for the assailants as there are no houses for more than 100 metres on both sides of her house as 3-4 sites are vacant.

Read: Gauri Lankesh’s siblings set 2 week deadline for cops to arrest killer

In front of her house there are two under-construction apartments and no one had reportedly seen the assailants. In addition, the roads were sparsely lit. While there is one street light is front of her house, the next one is around 400 metres away. The locality also has many cross roads, making it easy for the assailants to escape.