Sanatan Sanstha refutes SIT's allegations, says "Congress is trying to frame it in Gauri Lankesh case"

Days after SIT filed an additional charge sheet in slain journalist Gauri Lankesh case, members of Sanatan Sanstha defended the outfit and claimed that the Congress party is trying to frame it in the case. The right-wing outfit also alleged that none of the people mentioned in the charge sheet were associated with it. They also questioned the investigative agency’s logic and said that suspects were motivated after reading, “Kshatra Dharma Sadhana” a book published by Sanatan Sanstha.

“Nobody will be encouraged to kill by reading any grant. There are thousands of copies been distributed, SIT should tell us how do terrorists kill people? What do they read?

"SIT claims that the grant encourages people to kill people and that’s foolish. Around 16 people to 18 have been arrested but these people are not from our organization. If there would have been any evidences against our members, we would have surely spoken about it. Our member Samir Gaikwad was trapped by the officials in the case. We fought for him and he was declared innocent," said Chethan Rajhans, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson while speaking in the matter. 

READ: Sanatan Sanstha's Founder Jayant Athavale Might Be Questioned By ATS

As per SIT's findings during the course of investigation, more than 2,500 persons were interviewed and examined. Based on the clues obtained during the investigation SIT's field team traced and located nearly 10,000 suspected 2-wheelers from all over the state and interviewed the owners and users of the bikes. The experts in the SIT also analyzed lakhs of cell phone tower dumps and mobile phone numbers.

Suspects who have been arrested till now: Amol Kale, Parashuram Ashok Wagmore, Ganesh Miskin, Amith Ramachandra Badi, Amith R Degvekar, Bharath Kurane, Suresh, Rajesh D Bangera, Sudhanva Gondalekar, Sharad, Mohan Nayak, Vasudev Bhagavan Suryavamshi, Sujith Kumar, Manohara Dundappa Yedave, Srikanth Jagannath Panagarkar, KT Naveen Kumar, Vikas Patil and Rushikesh Deodikar.

READ: SIT Files Additional Charge Sheet In Gauri Lankesh Killing, Names Hindu Outfit

The investigation so far has revealed that all the 18 accused persons are active members of an organized crime syndicate. The syndicate was formed in the year 2010-2011 under the leadership of Dr. Virendra Tawade. A former editor of Sanatan Prabhat provided financial support to the syndicate. The members targeted persons who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in “Kshatra Dharma Sadhana”, a book published by Santan Sanstha”

With arguments and counter-arguments, the mystery surrounding Gauri Lankesh case has only deepened. Earlier, Indrajith Lankesh, Gauri’s brother had demanded the case to be handed over to the CBI. But the request was dropped after other family members opposed it.