Bengaluru: The trail into the murder case of Gauri Lankesh has begun in a lower court in Bengaluru five years after her death. The defence lawyers, who represented the accused, are alleged to have been putting efforts to divert attention from the Hindutva groups that have been accused of killing Lankesh. Most of their assertions were based on her links with Naxals.
However, the chargesheet filed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka police says that 18 men involved in the murder have links with a secretive group that targeted people they considered 'anti-Hindu'.
Kavitha Lankesh, the sister of the slain journalist, who was cross-examined by the defence lawyers, mainly directed their questions to Gauri Lankesh's Naxal links. Despite objections from the prosecution, defence asked Kavitha had Gauri angered the Naxals for persisting some ultra Naxals to surrender.
Kavitha was also asked what kind of relationship Gauri shared with Jignesh Mewani and former JNU student leader Kanhaiya Kumar. Gauri, were often heard describing both them as her 'ideological sons'.
One of the lawyers represented the accused has also listed Gauri's friends, who are considered to be prominent intellectuals of Karnataka, including late freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, the late playwright and Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad, social commentator Chandan Gowda and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and said they were Naxal sympathisers.
The defence also sought the differences Gauri had within her family members, particularly with her brother Indrajit Lankesh, who runs Lankesh Patrike daily once owned by their father. Gauri founded her own tabloid, Gauri Lankesh Patrike, after Indrajit claimed ownership of their father's daily.
The SIT investigation found that the plot was hatched by Amol Kale alias Topiwala alias Bhai Saheb, a former leader of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti which is affiliated to the Sanatan Sanstha.
He is alleged to have arranged for the killers to be trained and provided with weapons. The SIT was given a cash award for cracking the case by the state government, as well as the Union Home Minister's medal for excellence for 2019.