SIT arrests two more suspects from Hubli in Gauri Lankesh murder case
Amit Baddi, Ganesh Miski were arrested were produced before court today. They have been sent to police custody up to Aug 6.
Bengaluru: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the murder case of journalist Gauri Lankesh arrested two more suspects and are investigating their possible links with the killings of three other rationalists, MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.
The suspect Amit Baddi and Ganesh Miski, were arrested from Hubli under the Arms Act, and were produced before 3rd Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) court today. They have been sent to police custody up to August 6.
With the arrest of Amit and Ganesh, the total number of people arrested so far in the case has reached nine.
Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was killed outside her house in Bengaluru in September, 2017.
According to reports, the SIT is also believed to have stumbled upon critical information that could help solve the three murders.
The team has already established that the weapon used to kill Lankesh in September, 2017 was the same one Kalburgi was shot with in August 2015 in Dharwad, Karnataka. One of the two new suspects arrested is believed to be the key to finding the weapon.
Amit, a small-time businessman-goldsmith from Hubli, was arrested after the interrogation of one of the other seven suspects in custody, Mohan Naik, who reportedly revealed his role in the conspiracy.
Ganesh, also a resident of Hubli, runs a family business. He was kept under surveillance, following which police traced his calls to the alleged mastermind of the Gauri Lankesh murder, Amol Kale.
The other alleged conspirators in the Gauri Lankesh murder case have been identified as Sujeet Kumar, KT Naveen Kumar, Parushuram Waghmore, Manohar Edave and Amit Degwekar.
These five, along with Amol Kale and Mohan Naik, are suspected to be directly involved in the murders of Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar.