No Arrest in Gauri Lankesh Murder: Police Denies Media Reports

Bengaluru Police called the news report ‘false’ and mentioned that no arrests have been made.

Journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru on 5 September 2017

(Photo: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

Rebuffing reports in the local media, the Bengaluru Police on Friday 24 February clarified that no arrests were made in connection with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead in September 2017.

A report by Kannada news channel BTV claimed that KT Naveen, member of Hindu Yuva Sena, was allegedly identified as the mastermind by the Bengaluru Police’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to probe the scribe’s murder, and was reportedly taken into custody for the probe.

However, the police have refuted the news report and called it ‘false,’ mentioning that no arrests have been made, news agency ANI reported.

The SIT had in October last year released sketches of the suspects. However, the development was no breakthrough as the team could not produce more details of the killers or their affiliation.

The sketches released by senior SIT officers in Gauri Lankesh murder case.(Photo Courtesy: Arun Dev/The Quint)

The younger brother of Gauri, Indrajit Lankesh, being dissatisfied with the investigation, announced in January that he would approach the Karnataka High Court demanding a probe by the CBI.

Lankesh was a Bengaluru-based activist, and the editor of tabloid Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She was killed after unidentified men shot at her, from close range, outside her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, late on 5 September.

(With inputs from ANI)

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