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

The special investigation team (SIT), probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, has named Hindu right-wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a city court.

The SIT submitted the 9,235-page charge sheet in the Principal Civil and Sessions court in Bengaluru on Friday, November 23. The charge sheet stated that a network within Sanatan Sanstha targeted Lankesh for no personal reasons. It also said the planning to kill Lankesh took place for almost five years.

"The killer and the killed have no personal or any other enmity. Why she was killed? Because she believed in a certain ideology, she wrote and spoke on that. So, it must be an ideology and it must be an organisation," Special Public Prosecutor S Balan told PTI.

READ: Gauri Lankesh Death Anniversary: While India Mourns The Slain Journalist, Fringe Groups Mark 'Gauri Day' By Undertaking A Counter-narrative March

The SIT has also sought permission to investigate the case further. The first charge sheet in the sensational case was filed in May 2017

READ: BIG DEVELOPMENT| Gauri Lankesh's Alleged Murderer Confesses He Was In Touch With Pramod Muthalik And Was Once Part Of Bajrang Dal; Here's The Full Confession

Lankesh, 55, known for her left-leaning and strong anti-Hindutva views was shot dead in front of her house on September 5 in 2017, triggering a nationwide outrage. Soon after the then, the Siddaramaiah-led government constituted the SIT to probe into the killing.

So far, 18 people have been accused in the crime, including shooter Parashuram Waghmare, masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Degwekar, SIT sources told PTI.

The gang is suspected to be involved in the killing of three other rationalists M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare