Gauri Lankesh murder: SIT scans lodges, PGs for clues

Bengaluru: Having received only suggestions and queries on the special mobile number provided by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to the public to share information on the killers of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, the team has now reached out to the owners of lodges, hotels, paying guest accommodations, religious guesthouses, apartments and houses/rooms to share information about their customers and tenants.

The team is particular about those who had checked out or vacated the place after September 5 – the day Gauri was gunned down at her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

The SIT has, so far, not been able to gather much information about the killer, but believes that he stayed in a rented place in either Bengaluru West or South for a few days. The team, however, is not sure where he had stayed.

Deccan Chronicle on September 9 reported quoting a source that Gauri’s killer could be an outsider and stayed in the city for about a month to follow her movements.

“All the lodges, apartments, PGs, hostels, religious guesthouses and houses/rooms on rent are under the scanner. We have asked all the owners to submit a list of customers and tenants who had checked out after September 5,” a senior officer part of the SIT told DC.

The team is inserting pamphlets in newspapers, mostly in Bengaluru West, seeking information about suspicious people and activities from the public, besides appealing to lodges, apartments, PGs and house owners about their tenants. Thousands of pamphlets were distributed through newspapers on Wednesday with the contact number 9480801725. The SIT is particularly looking for those who vacated after September 5 without informing the concerned person or owner of the place.

An SIT source said that the team has been getting responses from owners of lodges, apartments, PGs and rented houses, and all of them will be questioned.

SIT to grill rowdies
After recording the statements of reformed dons and social activists Muthappa Rai and Agni Sridhar on Tuesday, the SIT is zeroing in on rowdies with inter-city and state networks. “As the assassin could be an outsider, we think interrogating rowdies with networks spread outside the city and state could help us get solid leads in the case.” an officer said. 

SIT questions KRV chief Narayana Gowda, astrologer Dwarkanath Guruji
On Wednesday, the SIT questioned Karnataka Rakshana Vedike president Narayana Gowda and well-known astrologer and close aide of Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Dwarkanath Guruji, on the ongoing investigation into Gauri Lankesh’s murder. Both Gowda and Dwarkanath had filed defamation cases against Gauri for writing against them in her tabloid ‘Gauri Lankesh Patrike’. The SIT is recording statements of all those who have filed defamation cases against Gauri.