Express News Service
BENGALURU: The special court for Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) on Friday granted custody of Sudhanwa Gondhalekar, who was arrested by Anti Terror Squad (ATS) Maharashtra, in an arms haul case, to Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Gauri Lankesh case.
The SIT has named Gondhalekar (39), a resident of Satara, as accused number 14 in the Gauri case. Maharashtra ATS had arrested him on August 10 for allegedly plotting terrorist attacks in that state.
SIT suspected Gondhalekar — who is said to have association with several Hindutva groups — after they saw some text messages, and also because he was named in Amol Kale’s diary.
Meanwhile, another accused whom the police didn’t want to name, has revealed that Gondhalekar had played a key role in the murder. As a corroborating statement, a CCTV footage at an apartment near Gauri’s house reportedly shows images of a man resembling Gondhalekar, said an officer. The police might go for another gait analysis, if needed.
It is also found that Gondhalekar was in the city ten days after the murder allegedly to collect the gun used in the murder and stored it in a safe place.
Sources told TNIE that they were even looking at seeking the custody of Shrikant Pangarkar, as his name too was in the diary. Besides, one of the two phones which Pangarkar was using had text messages showing links to Gauri case.
