Gauri Lankesh murder case: accused Naveen refused narco test in Gujarat
BENGALURU: K T Naveen Kumar, the only arrested accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh case, has strongly refused to undergo a narco-analysis test after agreeing to it earlier.
According to reports, when Naveen, who is believed to have links with Hindutva outfits, was taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Gujarat, threatened to commit suicide if he was subjected to the test. Now, the SIT will be bringing him back without subjecting him to the test.
Naveen was arrested by the SIT in March. As he was not co-operating with the investigations, the SIT had sought permission to subject him to a narco-analysis. It even sought his consent in the presence of a magistrate, as it is mandatory. Accordingly, Kumar told the court that he had no issues if the test did not impact his health. The court had then ordered the test following which the SIT arranged for it at the FSL in Gujarat. Kumar was taken into custody on April 14 and was taken to the FSL.
Kumar was supposed to undergo the test on Friday. But when the FSL staff asked him to sign the documents giving his consent to undergo the test, he created high drama and started shouting that he had been forced to give his consent earlier by the SIT. He even threatened to commit suicide.
When the accused said “police have brought him for the narco test without his content”, the FSL staff said “It is inappropriate to subject him for the test without his content. In case we conduct his test also, it does not yield true result.”
With no other go, the SIT team is bringing him back to the city.
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NDA's win in Bihar Assembly bypolls a matter of concern: Prashant Kishor
Patna, Nov 23: Political strategist turned activist Prashant Kishor on Saturday dubbed as "a matter of concern" the NDA's win in assembly by-polls in Bihar despite "failure" of the BJP-led coalition to end the state's chronic backwardness during it's decades-long rule.
Talking to reporters here shortly after the results were out, Kishor also drew succour from the fact that his fledgling Jan Suraaj won "10 per cent" of the total votes polled in four seats, but rubbished the claim that it had played a role in the RJD's defeat in three of these.
"RJD is a 30-year-old party. The son of its state president finished third. Can Jan Suraaj be faulted for that? In Belaganj all Muslim votes went to the JD(U) candidate. In Imamganj, the Jan Suraaj cut into NDA votes. Else, the victory margin of (Union minister) Jitan Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha would have been bigger", asserted Kishor.
Notably, Imamganj, a reserved seat, was retained by Manjhi's daughter-in-law Deepa, who defeated the RJD candidate by a thin margin of less than 6,000 votes. Jan Suraaj candidate Jitendra Paswan finished third, polling more than 37,000 votes.
When pointed out that in three of the four seats, candidates of Jan Suraaj had polled less than one-sixth of the total votes and ran the risk of losing their deposits, Kishor shot back "That should not be a matter of concern (chinta ki baat). If there is a matter of concern, it is the ability of the NDA to make a clean sweep despite having ruled Bihar for so long and "failed" to end the state's backwardness".
The IPAC founder, who had a brief stint in the JD(U), insisted that the party's supremo Nitish Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar, was a "spent force" and its candidate, former MLC Manorama Devi, had won on her own steam.
"We have always said that our fight is with NDA, not with RJD despite its claim of being the largest party in Bihar.....(but) Nitish Kumar is no factor. His party polled just about 11 per cent of total votes", said Kishor.
About his own party's inability to make a mark, Kishor said "We have secured 10 per cent votes..... in seats where Jan Suraaj had no presence since these areas were yet to be covered by my padyatra. Also, please note that we got our poll symbol after filing of nomination papers was over".
He also maintained that the Jan Suraaj will go solo in the assembly polls due next year when it will contest "all 243 seats".
"We were initially written off but by garnering about 10 per cent votes, in a state known to vote along predictable caste lines, we have proved a point. In the next few months we shall be strengthening the organization to ensure that vote share of the Jan Suraaj improves", he said.
