Ten days after journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead on September 5, 2017, Sudhanva Gondhalekar, 39, from Satara, Maharashtra, allegedly travelled to Bengaluru and collected the murder weapon — a country-made pistol of 7.65 mm calibre — from H.L. Suresh, one of the accused who allegedly harboured the hitmen at a rented house in Seegehalli.
Gondhalekar was one of the people arrested last week by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who were acting on intelligence provided by the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri case.
“The investigation has now established that Gondhalekar collected the murder weapon from Suresh. It was left in his care by the team that carried out the hit on the day of the murder,” said a senior official.
According to the SIT, one of the key suspects, Amol Kale — who was in Suresh’s house on September 5 — wrapped up the weapon and put it in a suitcase, which was in turn placed in a metal trunk. The trunk was kept in a shop that Suresh had rented near his house in Seegehalli.
The SIT seized these items and recovered a strand of hair, which has matched the DNA profile of Kale. Following his arrest, Suresh allegedly told interrogators that an associate of Kale had collected the weapon from him. “That man has been identified as Sudhanva Gondhalekar, which makes him a key suspect in the case,” the official said.
This isn’t the only thread that links Gondhalekar to the those arrested in the Gauri murder case. According to the SIT, he is also suspected to have links to Sujith Kumar alias Praveen, who allegedly recruited the suspected shooter Parashuram Waghmore and is one of the accused in the conspiracy to assassinate Mysuru professor K.S. Bhagawan.
Praveen had gone underground from February to May this year, following the SIT’s first arrest in the case — that of K.T. Naveen Kumar. During this period, he was allegedly hiding in the house of a right-wing activist in Satara. The activist is suspected to be linked to Gondhalekar, who may have arranged for the shelter, sources said.
Bangera’s training
Rajesh Bangera, 51, from Madikeri who was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) for training Waghmore in using firearms, is now suspected to have imparted similar training to many members of the organisation, including those who carried out the hits on Gauri Lankesh, M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, and Narendra Dabholkar.
The diary recovered from Amol Kale had an entry “Sir” with a mobile number against it, and it was traced to Bangera. He allegedly trained Veerendra Tawde, who was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the Dabholkar case. Sources say he was the “go-to person” for arms training. However, the shooters he trained have yet to be identified. While Bangera does not know the real names of many of the people he has trained over the years, he can identify them through photos, said the SIT.
Sources said investigations have now revealed that Amol Kale, the alleged mastermind of the Gauri murder case, had a role in the murders of the other three rationalists as well. However, his exact role is yet to be understood.