Was paid Rs 13,000 to kill 'anti-Hindu' Gauri Lankesh: Parshuram Waghmare

Bengaluru: "I didn't do it for money. I agreed to do it because her views were anti-Hindu," Parshuram Waghmare, who allegedly pulled the trigger on journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh on September 5 last year, has told the interrogators.

Parshuram, who is 29 years old, said that he was paid Rs 13,000 for the job, sources in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) told Deccan Chronicle.

He told SIT officials that he met a man in Sindhagi, who assured him of all support if he executed the murder of Gauri Lankesh.

Parshuram said that he was given an advance of Rs 3,000 for food and accommodation in the city. After the murder, an unknown man handed him Rs 10,000 and he left the city soon after.

“After Gauri’s murder, I left for my hometown and no one contacted me," Parshuram allegedly told the SIT officials.

Parshuram, who used to work at a kitchen utensil shop, stopped going to work after the murder.

“He did not discuss the murder with anyone, including his family members. He acted normal and this made his family members believe that he was not involved in the case when the officials picked him up,” the SIT sources said.

“After the murder, Parshuram had organised a Hindu gathering in Vijayapura. He refused to comment on it when we questioned him,” they said, adding that: “We will continue to grill Parshuram to get more details on the man he met in Sindhagi.”