Five of the seven men accused in the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh held meetings in Karnataka and Maharashtra to plot the assassination of rationalist and writer from Mysuru K.S. Bhagavan.
Amole Kale, 39; Amit Degwekar, 39; Manohar Edave, 28; K.T. Naveen Kumar, 37; and Sujeet Kumar alias Praveen, 37, had even procured arms and ammunition for the job, said the Upparpet police in a chargesheet submitted before the 1st ACMM court.
Investigations into the case revealed that the accused had procured arms and ammunition from their contacts in Belagavi and had stashed them at a relative’s house in Davangere. The police, however, are yet to recover the weapon or the bullets.
The over 700-page chargesheet details the role of the accused, a forensic lab report to corroborate the charges, and statements of over 150 witnesses.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri murder case, while monitoring the calls of Naveen Kumar before his arrest, learned of another plot that had been set in motion: he was caught on tape discussing with Praveen plans to eliminate Mr. Bhagavan for his alleged anti-Hindu views. “They discussed at length about this and how they would carry out the murder in a manner similar to that of Gauri’s,” said a police officer.
The Upparpet police said in their chargesheet that the accused had a meeting in Belagavi in Karnataka and Satara in Maharashtra to discuss the plan and the role they had to take up. They also met at Gundal forest range in Chamarajanagar district in January this year.
They allegedly deputed an associate for a recce of Mr. Bhagavan’s house to see how many CCTV cameras had been installed in and around the area, and make note of their locations. “We identified the person who conducted the surveillance and he had been a witness in the case,” a senior police officer said.