Lawyers representing Gauri Lankesh murder accused felicitated by BJP MLA
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Photo: TNM
Raja Singh, a Telangana BJP MLA, felicitated the lawyers for the individuals accused of killing journalist Gauri Lankesh and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar at a function hosted by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a Hindutva organisation. The organisation is thought to be an offshoot of the Sanatan Sanstha, a radical Hindutva group.
At the Vaishvik Hindu Rashtra Mahotsav in Goa from June 24 to 30, Raja Singh, who had faced 101 cases in Hyderabad, 18 of which had been of a communal nature, felicitated four advocates, the News Minute reported.
He felicitated lawyers P Krishnamurthy, Umashankar Megundi, Divya Megundi, and Avinash Masuti, who are representing the primary accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case.
On September 5, 2017, Gauri was killed outside her home in Bengaluru. Amol Kale, the main accused in the case was a former Hindu Janajagruti Samiti leader who, according to the police, allegedly planned Gauri's murder. The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti's Karnataka state spokesperson shared photographs of the felicitation on social media.
Prakash Salsingkar, Ghanshyam Upadhyaya, Mrunal Wyavahare Sakhare, and Smita Desai, who acted as the accused's lawyer in the Narendra Dabholkar murder case, were also felicitated by Raja Singh. Dabholkar, a rationalist, established the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti.
On August 13, 2013, he was shot and killed in Pune, close to the Omkareshwar Temple. Two persons, Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, were found guilty by a special court in Pune of killing Dabholkar in May 2024. In the murder of Gauri, Kalaskar is also one of the suspects.
The Samiti website states that almost eight hundred delegates from all over the nation attended the event.