Training pistol used by Gauri Lankesh’s killers identified

BENGALURU: While the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) is yet to recover the country made 7.65mm pistol that was used to kill editor-cum-activist Gauri Lankesh, they have reportedly found the contraband pistol, which was used for training her assassins.

The Karnataka Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has identified the country made 7.65mm pistol, which was reportedly used to train Gauri’s alleged killer Parshuram Waghmare and another accused Ganesh Miskin, months before Waghmare actually shot her down outside her house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017. Miskin was the alleged bike rider.

According to sources, the ballistic report submitted by FSL states that the six expended cartridges and bullets that were seized from a forest in Belagavi, where Waghmare and another Miskin were trained in the use of firearms, were fired from one of the country made pistols that were submitted by the SIT for the ballistic examination.

The SIT had submitted 16 illegally manufactured pistols of 7.65mm bore that were seized by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) from Nalasopara and Pune in August last year to the FSL to verify if any of them were of relevance in the Gauri murder case. The ballistic experts have reportedly stated that the impressed action marks - the firing pin impressions and breech marks in one of the pistols, have matched with the ‘evidence’ cartridges and bullets that were submitted as ‘exhibits’ by the SIT. The impressed action marks are produced when a cartridge case is fired from a firearm.

The Karnataka FSL had earlier given the first scientific lead in the M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri murder cases in its ballistic report, which had confirmed that the same illicit 7.65mm pistol was used in killing the two liberal voices of Karnataka.  

Kalburgi assassins were hired by Gauri conspirator

Praveen Prakash Chatur (27) alias Churan Masalewala, who was on May 31 arrested by the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) from Belagavi, had reportedly driven Kannada litterateur M.M. Kalburgi’s alleged assassin Ganesh Miskin on the stolen black Pulsar motorcycle on the morning of August 30, 2015.

Prakash had reportedly parked the two wheeler outside Prof. Kalburgi’s house in Dharwad when Miskin went inside and shot at the Kannada scholar from a point blank range. The Pulsar bike was later seized by Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad last year. Miskin has also been chargesheeted in the Gauri murder case.
According to official sources, Praveen was reportedly “recruited” by Amol Kale, accused number one in the Gauri murder case in 2011, and was allegedly indoctrinated into “target killing” to save Hindutva. In January 2018 Praveen was arrested by Belagavi police for attacking the Prakash theatre, which was screening Bollywood film ‘Padmavat’. He was later released on bail.