Gauri Lankesh murder: Arrest the ‘masterminds’
Finally, the progress on Gauri Lankesh murder investigation has reached a stage of filing the chargesheet. The police have submitted a chargesheet on two young men with Sangh Parivar background. The anxiety of Gauri Lankesh murder being hushed up as Prof Kalburgi murder has been put to rest, at least tentatively. The murder happened when former CM Siddaramaiah government was in the office, and the crime took place almost late evening. People had expected the arrest of culprits much faster than this, but then again, the agencies took a disappointingly longer time.
There are allegations that Gauri Lankesh’s family didn’t cooperate with the investigating agencies. The inconsistency of statements of Indrajit Lankesh, Gauri’s brother, have often contributed to the delay in derailing the investigation. Media has also contributed much in this regard. Yet, this has been a big achievement on part of the police to have made a headway into this progress. However, the chargesheet says the ones arrested are not those who planned the murder, but only those who executed it. This is disappointing since a delayed investigation and submission of witness and circumstantial evidence would mean the culprits will come out free within no time. So, the arrest of Naveen and Praveen are not the final sigh of relief for friends and family of Gauri. The supari killers may have been paid by certain elements in the society and their role has to be probed to get to the root of this bigger issue of hating dissidence. The ones who killed Gauri may not even have known why they were asked to kill her. Money may be their only link to this crime.
Such Supari killers are not hate mongers. They are just the tools at the hands of hate mongers who want every dissident voice wiped off from the face of earth. Had the Kalburgi killers been nabbed, there were chances of Gauri being alive today. If the killers of Gauri aren’t nabbed with their network, it may lead to another such incident and loss of a significant life. There are already plans of writer Bhagwan being targeted. The culprits often hide themselves amidst the general public. And they are also confident that they’d be let off for want of evidence. Hence even the hands of legal system is bloodied with Gauri’s murder.
One young fellow had celebrated Kalaburgi’s murder in Dakshina Kannada. He was arrested and let off on bail. The same fellow used the loopholes in legal frame work and gathered courage to kill another youngster Harish Pujari In Bantwal. His agenda was to create unrest among Hindu and Muslims. Had he been punished for his behavior earlier during Kalburgi’s incident, a life would have been saved and Bantwal wouldn’t have witnessed communal tensions.
Just the way as Sangh Parivar’s ideology is responsible for the threatening situation and murder of intellectuals, loopholes in legal frame work has also greatly contributed to the emboldening of criminals. Communal tensions are being dealt with some sort of soft handed approach and this has led to communal mindset even among law implementing agencies. Political pressure could also be another reason.
Many assume delivering hate-speeches can make them leaders. If cases are lodged against them, they wouldn’t even dare repeat their crime. Former MLA Ramanath Rai couldn’t arrest Kalladka Prabhakar Bhat despite having declared that he’d do that. Had he done that, the state would have been far safer today and many people would have been alive amidst us.
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RSS man's defamation case against Rahul: Key witness unavailable, hearing adjourned to Dec 20
Thane (PTI): A court in Bhiwandi in Thane district on Saturday adjourned the hearing in the criminal defamation case filed against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) worker to December 20 due to non-availability of a crucial prosecution witness.
Advocate Narayan Iyer, counsel for Rahul Gandhi, confirmed the adjournment, stating that the witness, Ashok Saykar, currently Deputy Superintendent of Police in Barshi in Solapur, could not remain present due to personal reasons.
Saykar's evidence is now likely to be recorded on December 29.
His testimony is considered key because he, as police sub inspector in 2014, conducted the preliminary inquiry into the private defamation matter under Section 202 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
It was on the basis of Saykar's submitted report that the court subsequently issued process (summons) against Rahul Gandhi under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The criminal defamation case was filed by local RSS worker Rajesh Kunte following a speech given by Rahul Gandhi at an election rally near Bhiwandi on March 6, 2014.
The case stems from the Congress leader's alleged statement that "the RSS people killed (Mahatma) Gandhi."
The matter is being heard by Bhiwandi Joint Civil Judge, Junior Division, P M Kolse.
The hearing had previously been adjourned on November 15 after the complainant's counsel, Advocate Prabodh Jaywant, moved an application seeking permission to examine Saykar, who had submitted the probe report to the court.
The matter was originally scheduled for November 29 but was deferred to December 6 after Rahul Gandhi's legal team sought an adjournment citing their non-availability. The proceedings will now resume on December 20.
