Two Maharashtra men who ordered Gauri killing on the SIT radar

Bengaluru, Aug 14: The Special Investigation Team probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has closed in on two men who it believes masterminded the murder on September 5, 2017.

SIT sources said their personnel are lying in wait for the two masterminds at various locations in Maharashtra. The two men, along with a third person who later died of illness, allegedly issued orders to kill Gauri.

With 12 accused in custody and Nihal alias Dada, the 13th, elusive, SIT believes it’s about to wrap up the probe with these two arrests. “These three Maharashtra-based men issued orders to kill Gauri. The orders were given to Amol Kale, a Pune resident. Kale formed the core team which planned the murder with Sujit Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Degvekar as deputies. The pistol used for the murder was supplied to Kale by the three masterminds,” an SIT source said.

‘Amol Kale was commander for K’taka region’

The source said Amol Kale was appointed commander for Karnataka region and assigned the task of saving Hindutva by killing those who spoke ill of the religion. “Kale gave directions to others, saying no one must use the real names. Whenever they wanted to discuss Gauri Lankesh, they were to use the code word ‘Amma’,” a source said.

Inputs from Maharashtra police revealed that the dead mastermind, Kaka, mentored Kale. “Kaka brainwashed Kale, saying there’s nothing wrong in killing a person to save Hindusim. Kaka died of an illness a few months ago. We’re looking for the other two,” an SIT source said.

A court in Bengaluru on Monday handed over Belagavi resident Bharath Kurne, 37, to 11 days’ police custody. The SIT arrested Kurne on August 5 from Belagavi after suspecting him to be a co-conspirator. Kurne allegedly sheltered Kale and his associates, including Sindagi youth Parashuram Waghmore, who pulled the trigger on Gauri, in his hotel.