SIT arrests suspected bike rider in Kalburgi murder

In a significant breakthrough the special investigation team, which had taken over the investigation into the murder of Kannada litterateur MM Kalburgi, on Friday arrested a person in connection with the case.

In a release, the SIT said: “In connection with the murder of MM Kalburgi... the SIT has arrested Praveen Prakash Chatur, 27, of Belagavi on [May 31]. After he was produced at a Dharwad court he was remanded in police custody till [June 7].”

Kalburgi was murdered on August 30, 2015, and the investigation into the crime had stalled. However, earlier this year the SIT probing the murder of the journalist Gauri Lankesh was handed over the case considering its swift progress in the case.

A senior officer of the SIT, who did not wish to be quoted, said the team believed that Chatur was the person who rode the bike to Kalburgi’s house. The SIT believes further that Ganesh Miskin, who was arrested for his links to the Lankesh murder, was the person who pulled the trigger on Kalburgi.

Miskin was arrested in August, 2018, and was believed to have been present at the crime scene on the night when Lankesh was murdered. “Chatur waited on the bike while Miskin shot Kalburgi and we identified him based on the accounts of eyewitnesses,” the senior officer of the SIT said.

First Published: Jun 01, 2019 22:10 IST