Gauri murder: 4 days on, SIT hunts for clues; saffronists likely to be questioned

coastaldigest.com news network
September 9, 2017

Bengaluru, Sept 9: Four days after journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her Rajarajeshwari Nagar house, no concrete leads have been found in the case.

On Friday, the government announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone providing information that would lead to arrests in the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The announcement came after home minister Ramalinga Reddy briefed CM about the status of the investigation.

It's not difficult to see why the police are desperate for clues. Every evidence that the police were banking on (CCTV footage of house; of cameras along the way from Gauri's Gandhi Bazaar office to RR Nagar home) has nearly hit a dead-end.

New angles have emerged after the special investigation team (SIT) pored over the CCTV footage once again on Friday, but there's hardly anything to pursue.

Some videos are doing the rounds of social media (showing "recreation of the crime scene") but the police have advised people not to fall for such fake videos. What the actual footage shows is this:

* Gauri Lankesh arrives at her RR Nagar house at 8.09 pm on Tuesday (the actual time was 8.26 pm; police say there was some technical error in the CCTV setup at Gauri's house).

* She parks her car right outside her gate and switches off the headlights. She sits in the car for two minutes (police don't really know why).

* She then steps out, swings open the iron gate; she takes two steps holding the right portion of the gate.

* Just then, a light flashes on her car (the arrival of the killer on a bike since it's a single head lamp). The bike is parked exactly behind the car (the killer probably knew that Gauri had installed CCTV cameras; this is why he took pains to hide his identity and that of his bike)

* The killer then walks up to Gauri and she turns towards him (police believe he might have addressed her)

* He then fires at her abdomen on the left; he can be seen within stabbing distance of Gauri in the CCTV footage. He fires another three shots

* Gauri loses her balance (perhaps due to the bullet injuries) and starts walking backwards (prelude to collapsing)

* The killer then fires at her chest (the post-mortem later revealed that the bullet pierced through her heart causing instant death)

The pot-bellied killer is actually wearing a backpack on the front side (to throw police off track; he doesn't remove his helmet either). As soon as Gauri collapses, he escapes. After 30 seconds, another head lamp shines on the car. Police believe the killer backed up his two-wheeler and then accelerated which is why there is a 30-second lag; they are sure that there was only one killer on one bike (and not three killers as local residents reported earlier).

However, experts say that it will be difficult to draw a sketch of the killer from the grainy footage as he did a good job of hiding his identity.

The other clue that police were banking on - CCTV footage from cameras along Gauri's route - has also turned out to be a damp squib. Gauri did not take the route that is dotted with CCTV cameras. Instead, she weaved through smaller lanes to avoid traffic. Unfortunately, there are hardly any cameras along these lanes.

The police are now hoping for a miracle - maybe some resident or shopkeeper may turn over crucial footage that could be trapped in their cameras. From her Gandhi Bazaar office, Gauri passed through Dodda Ganapathi Temple; then she headed towards Giri Nagar via Hanumanth Nagar; then she reached Muneshwara Block and then reached close to Mysor Road; then she took another inner lane and emerged close to her house, avoiding the traffic at Rajarajeshwari Nagar Arch.

The police traced her route through various tower locations as her cell phone was active as she was driving. According to a senior officer, the weapon used in the murder is either of Indian or foreign make and not a country-made one as thought earlier."We are awaiting the final forensic report on the weapon," the officer said. The SIT officers have drawn up a list of seven suspects including saffron activists whom they plan to question soon. 

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ahmed
 - 
Monday, 11 Sep 2017

RSS MIND KILLER Trained in RSS byteck its preplanned by chaddi company...may bhat know tiz skech

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News Network
April 9,2020

Kalaburagi, Apr 9: An FIR has been lodged against the management and staff of Bahamani Super Speciality Hospital here in Kalaburagi allegedly for not following procedures meant to deal with COVID-19 and hiding details of patients with coronavirus symptoms, said District Deputy Commissioner Sharath B on Wednesday.

The district family welfare department official and nodal officer of KPME Kalaburagi took cognisance of the reports that the private hospitals in the district are not informing the government about patients having COVID-19 symptoms and they are only reporting about such cases at the last moment.

"It has come to our light that some private hospitals in Kalaburagi city are hiding information about the patients who are having COVID-19 like symptoms and these cases are not being reported on time to us," said the District Deputy Commissioner.

"We verified the records of these hospitals and it is clear now that they are revealing the serious cases in the last moment when the treatment has not given any help to patients. Only then such cases are bringing to ESI hospital in Kalaburagi. We have taken steps to quarantine the entire staff member of Bahamani hospital. We have taken legal steps against them for non-compliance of the orders issued to them and for not reporting this matter to us at the earliest stage," he said.

A case has been registered under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 column 51, 58 and sections 269 and 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

He further said that two new cases were reported positive on April 8 and one person has succumbed to the infection because he was having a severe respiratory infection.
He appealed to everyone to strictly follow lockdown restrictions and not violate Section 144 at any cost.

Speaking about the attacks on Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers, who were given a task to collect travel details of locals in view of coronavirus crisis, Sharath said: "Some of the health workers, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who have been given a task to going from door to door to verify health status were troubled unnecessarily, saying that they have come to collect data for NRC and NPR."

"They are doing a survey on behalf of the district administration as they have to gather travelling information so that a person can be quarantined to contain COVID-19 spread. There has been an attack, a case has been registered in this regard," he said.

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News Network
January 2,2020

Tumakuru, Jan 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid respects to the 'Gadduge' (final resting place) of Shivakumara Swamiji at Siddaganga Math, a prominent Lingayat seminary here, and said the Swamiji's work would continue to inspire everyone.

The Swamiji, who was known as the 'Walking God' among his countless followers, had passed away last year at the age of 111. The Prime Minister, who arrived at the Yelahanka Airbase in Bengaluru, went directly to Tumakuru, where the Math is located, by a chopper along with Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and former Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda among others. Modi, after offering respects to the 'Gadduge', planted Bilva plant (Aegle marmelos) on the premises of the Math and also laid the foundation for the construction of a museum dedicated to Swamiji here before addressing the gathering, largely comprising students. Speaking on the occasion, Modi said he was feeling blessed to begin 2020 from the sacred land of Siddaganga, but at the same time was feeling the "vacuum" in the absence of Shivakumara Swamiji. "It is rare see the number of people swamiji had inspired during his life time. I'm really fortunate to lay the foundation for the museum in swamiji's memory. Through this museum, his works will continue to inspire generations," he said. Also, Prime Minister remembered Vishwesha Theertha of Udupi's Pejawar Math who passed away recently. Yediyurappa and the present pontiff of the Math Siddalinga Swamiji were among the others present. Known as "trivida dasohi" for his triple sacraments - food, shelter and education - among his followers, Shivakumara swamiji was considered as the incarnation of Basavanna, the 12th-century social reformer, as he accepted all irrespective of their religion or caste. There has been a growing clamour from people of different walks of life, including politicians, for conferring "Bharat Ratna" on the late Swamiji.

After the Swamiji's demise, the then Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had written to Modi urging him to confer the country's highest civilian order on the late seer.

Opposition Congress on Thursday questioned the Prime Minister about not conferring the"Bharat Ratna" on Shivakumara Swamiji.

Questioning Modi as to why he did not visit Tumakuru when Shivakumara Swamiji of Siddaganga Math passed away, the principal opposition party in the state assembly in a tweet also sought to know why the seer was not conferred with the Bharat Ratna yet, while pointing out that former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had written a letter in this regard in January 2018.

The present seer of the seminary Siddalinga Swamiji presented Modi a silver statue of Shivakumara Swamiji as a memento.

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News Network
January 30,2020

New Delhi, Jan 30: A terrorist opened fire at people peacefully protesting against the contentious citizenship amendment act (CAA) near the Jamia Millia Islamia University in Delhi this afternoon, causing chaos and panic in the area.

One person has been injured. In a video, the terrorist, wearing a black jacket and a pair of white trousers, can be seen walking on a road, waving a gun as he shouts "who wants Azadi, come I'll shoot you. Then he says, "Yeh lo aazadi (here's your freedom)" and opens fire injuring a student in front of police.

A video of the attack that is being shared widely on social media also showed the assailant also shouting the 'Jai Shri Ram' slogan and warning protesters to chant 'Vande Mataram' if they want to stay in India. The injured student, Shadab, was hit by the bullet in his arm and has been admitted to the Holy Family hospital in Jamia Nagar.

His condition is stated to be stable. The incident took place near the hospital when a protest march was being taken out by students. Students said that the attacker tried to hijack the peaceful protest and threatened the anti-CAA agitators.

The shooting comes in the aftermath of communally charged, hateful and violence provoking rhetoric by several BJP leaders in the run-up to the assembly elections in Delhi.

Junior finance minister Anurag Thakur had on Monday led chants of ‘shoot the traitors’ at a poll rally in north Delhi’s Rithala. The minister prompted "desh ke gaddaron ko..." to which the crowd responded "...goli maaro sa***n ko". The chant translates to "shoot down the traitors who betray the country". Protesters against the CAA and the NRC have often been dubbed anti-national by members of the ruling BJP.

After Thakur’s hate speech, a man carrying a gun was also caught at Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, the venue of mega protests. The man had walked into the protest ground and allegedly brandished the weapon till he was overpowered by the surrounding protesters, eyewitnesses said.

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