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The Bengaluru police investigating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh appear to have zeroed in on a “man in a dark jacket” who shot her from point blank range as she alighted from her car on Tuesday evening. She is said to have been close to the door of her two-storeyed house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, within the limits of Chamarajpet police station.
A preliminary analysis of CCTV footage, both from the unit placed on the ground floor entry to Lankesh’s house and at least another on the dimly lit street in the neighbourhood showed that while the man in the dark jacket crossed a lane from his “waiting place” – an unfinished apartment block adjacent to the slain journalist’s house – two others on a bike followed her.
According to highly-placed police sources in Bengaluru, the footage is not clear because of lack of sufficient light in or near the scene of the crime. The two bike-borne associates of the man who actually pulled out a gun and shot Lankesh from point blank range are seen to have followed the veteran journalist’s vehicle.
While the police are investigating all possible angles and theories, including unconfirmed reports, a senior officer familiar with the modus operandi of contract killer gangs as well as hitmen who operate out of Karnataka and adjoining states, said that Lankesh’s killing was “professionally executed”.
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