Gauri Lankesh murder: Accused KT Naveen confesses to crime, says SIT
Bengaluru: The main accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh, KT Naveen Kumar, has confessed to the killing, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has reportedly claimed.
The police memo accessed by News18 states that Kumar recorded his statement, owning up to the murder. According to the confession statement, Kumar and his accomplice Praveen planned the murder outside Adi Chanchanagiri complex at Vijayanagara in the western part of Bengaluru.
Kumar took the police to both the crime spot and the place where he allegedly plotted her murder, the report added.
Police claim that Kumar has agreed to a lie detector test and he took them to crime spot using the same route he allegedly took on the night of murder, News18 added.
An officer of the SIT had earlier said that narcoanalysis test would be conducted on Kumar. "Though the court allowed us to conduct the narco test, or a lie-detector test, on KT Naveen Kumar on 12 March, the date and place for the same have not been fixed yet," SIT Investigation Officer MN Anucheth had told IANS.
Kumar was taken into custody on 3 March by the Karnataka SIT for questioning. He hails from Birur town in Chikkamagaluru district, about 250 kilometres west of Bengaluru, SIT Investigating Officer MN Anucheth said.
Lankesh, 55, the editor of Lankesh Patrike, was shot dead outside her residence in the city's southwestern suburb by unidentified assailants on 5 September last year.
The state government had set up the SIT to probe the journalist-activist's killing.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Delhi records high of 32.7 deg C; AQI remains 'moderate'
New Delhi (PTI): The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 32.7 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 1.3 notches below the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 20.1 degrees Celsius on Sunday, 1.3 notches below the average for the season, while the relative humidity stood at 46 per cent at 5.30 pm, the IMD said.
The weather department has forecast a partly cloudy sky for Monday with the maximum and minimum temperatures expected to hover around 34 and 19 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The air quality remained 'moderate' at 4 pm, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 134, a slight drop from Saturday’s 137, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
According to the CPCB, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'.
