The Chikkamagaluru police have forwarded a petition submitted by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) suspecting Sringeri MLA and district BJP president D.N. Jeevaraj’s involvement in the murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh to the Special Investigation Team probing the case.
KRRS Koppa taluk unit working president Naveen Karuvane and a few others had submitted a petition to the Koppa police suspecting the MLA’s role in the murder.
They had alleged that while addressing BJP workers in Koppa on Wednesday, the MLA had said Gauri would have been alive if she had not criticised the BJP and Hindutva forces.
The Koppa police did not register a complaint based on the petition, but forwarded it to the SIT.
K. Annamalai, Superintendent of Police, on Friday, told The Hindu, “We received the complaint and forwarded it to SIT as it was related to Gauri Lankesh’s murder. The petitioners had alleged the role of the MLA in the murder.”
Reacting to the developments, the MLA said his words were misinterpreted and that he wanted to highlight that had the State government taken stern action with respect to murders of Hindutva activists, Gauri would not have been murdered.