One More Arrest In Gauri Lankesh Murder Case Takes Total To 10
BENGALURU: The three arrests from Karnataka this week in the murder case of journalist Gauri Lankesh has brought the total number of arrested men to 10. While two people were arrested from Hubballi, another was arrested from Madikeri. Gauri Lankesh, 55, a vocal critic of hardline right-wing ideology, was shot dead outside her Bengaluru home in September last year.
The two men arrested from Hubballi in south Karnataka, Amith Baddi a goldsmith and Ganesh Miskin who manufactures incense sticks, are in police custody till August 6 - charged with murder and under the arms act. Fifty-year-old Rajesh D Bangera was arrested from Madikeri, the police said on Tuesday. He too has been sent to police custody till August 6.
There were protests in Hubbali by right-wing activists after the two men from the town were arrested by the special investigation team or SIT for their alleged involvement in the murder.
The two have the support of right-wing activists who say the men - and the others arrested - are innocent. The protestors handed over a memorandum to the tahsildar.
"We are giving this memorandum to say that we condemn the arrest of these Hindu youth and demand their immediate release. Already so many Hindus have been arrested in the Gauri Lankesh case. And now, without giving any reason, the SIT have arrested Anil and Ganesh on Saturday night even though these young men have no involvement in the case. They are the sole bread-winners for their families," one of them said.
Amith's mother, Jayashree, said, "They didn't tell us anything. They just took him away." Amith's wife tearfully added, "My small child keeps asking where papa is."
The support from Hindu groups and the depiction of the arrested men as innocent youth makes the affiliation between the arrested men and such groups seem more likely.
And makes it even clearer which way the investigation is heading.
The statement by the first man arrested in the case in February - Naveen Kumar - talks of his involvement with Hindu groups like the Sri Rama Sene headed by Pramod Muthalik notorious for being accused in the Mangaluru pub attack case - though he was later acquitted.
The statement also indicates how Gauri Lankesh was said to have made anti-Hindu statements and was a threat to the religion.
Four other men arrested in the case were being investigated for a plot to kill the Mysuru-based rationalist, K Bhagwan - with possible links to Gauri Lankesh's killing being made later.
courtesy : ndtv.com
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Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
