Custody of 4 ‘linked to terror plot’ extended till September 25

Defence advocate Sanjeev Punalekar said these handsets were shown to have been seized from all the accused arrested in the Lankesh murder case and not Sujeeth alone. (File)

A special court extended the custody of four men, booked for their alleged role in a terror plot involving Hindutva groups, till September 25. Sujeeth Kumar and Bharat Kurne, named as accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Karnataka, along with two others, Vasudev Suryavanshi and Leeladhar Lodhi, were produced before a special court on Monday. The ATS claimed none had cooperated in the probe.

Chief Public Prosecutor Jaysingh Desai told the court that based on the disclosures made by Suryavanshi, the ATS team had travelled over 2,500 km over the last week, adding that Suryavanshi was constantly misleading police. According to Desai, Suryavanshi had revealed he had dismantled a motorcycle and the ATS wanted to probe into why this was done and whether it was because it was used in another offence.

Desai added that Sujeeth had changed 48 handsets in a year and a probe was needed to find the SIM cards he had used and their locations. Defence advocate Sanjeev Punalekar said these handsets were shown to have been seized from all the accused arrested in the Lankesh murder case and not Sujeeth alone.

Sujeeth also told the court that he was beaten with a stick and belt and stripped and assaulted, while in custody. ens