Four teams worked for one year to kill Gauri Lankesh: SIT

Bengaluru, Jun 14: After the recent arrest of a prime suspects in the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, the Special Investigating Team of the Karnataka Police has made headway in the case.

It is learnt that four teams had been formed to kill Gauri Lankesh. Each team comprised of two members and all teams had just one person as the main coordinator or handler. The teams worked for one year to carry out the plan.

The teams were assigned different tasks — from information gathering in the early stages to reconnoitre operations and intelligence gathering. “They were assigned tasks by the handler on a need-to-know basis. The fourth team carried out the hit,” said a source in the SIT.

On Thursday, the police interrogated both Amole Kale, 39, one of the accused in the case, and Parashuram Waghmore, 26, who was arrested earlier this week. Both men were questioned after Waghmore allegedly claimed that he had been tasked with carrying out the hit by Kale, who gave him a country-made pistol. “He claims that he returned the gun to Kale, but the men keep changing their statements,” said the SIT officer.