BENGALURU: Two men arrested in Maharashtra recently were part of a
Plan B in place to assassinate journalist activist
Gauri Lankesh in her Rajarajeshwari Nagar house on September 5, 2017, had gunner
Parashuram Waghmore and his bikerescort Ganesh Miskin failed in their mission to kill her, sources in the Special Investigation Team probing the murder said.
On that fateful evening, Sudhanva Gondhelkar, 39, and Sharad Kalaskar, 25, lay in wait on a road adjacent to the one on which Gauri’s house was located, sources said. The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra recently arrested the duo and recovered 11 country-made pistols and ammunition from them. Karnataka’s Waghmore and Miskin are in judicial custody.
A CCTV footage from an apartment located on the road adjacent to Gauri’s residence clearly shows Gondhelkar, sources said.
SIT seeks custody of Gondhelkar, Kalaskar
“Around 3.45pm, Sudhanva walks near the apartment for 15 seconds. Later, he heads towards a red Bajaj Pulsar parked at the corner and joins the rider. The rider is likely to be Sharad Kalaskar. The description of the rider matches with that of Kalaskar,” the sources said.
The SIT will submit the footage to a court in Pune when they seek custody of Gondhelkar and Kalaskar. Amol Kale, one of the key accused, said his ‘seniors’, including Nihal alias Dada, were upset as the plot to kill Gauri had not materialised as per plan.
“We had fixed September 4 as the day to kill Gauri. That day, Gauri reached home very early. When Miskin and Waghmore reached her house, the lights were on and through a window, they saw her watching TV,” sources quoted Kale as telling his interrogators.
Thinking Waghmore may not complete the task, Gondelkar and Kalaskar left Pune the same night and reached Bengaluru by 11am the next day, sources said.
“Riding a red Bajaj Pulsar, they reached RR Nagar by 2pm. They roamed here till 6.30pm and seeing Miskin and Waghmore enter a park near Gauri’s residence, both moved to an adjacent road. After Waghmore shot Gauri and sped away on Miskin’s bike, they left,” sources said.
The pistols seized from Gondelkar and Kalaskar recently were purchased from Mangera and Sendhwa in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. “They were purchased with the help of a Maharashtra-based politician,” sources said.
