Gauri Lankesh was identified as "Durjan" by crime syndicate that plotted her murder: SIT
Bengaluru, Nov 26: Late journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was identified as 'Durjan' (evil person) by the crime syndicate that plotted her murder, the Special Investigation Team probing the case has said, adding artificial intelligence systems were used to verify identity of suspected people in the killing.
Inspired by the Goa-based right wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha literature, the syndicate, comprising 18 people, named Lankesh as "Durjan" in August 2016 and started hatching a conspiracy to kill her, the SIT said.
The 55-year-old Lankesh, known for her left-leanings and strident anti-Hindutva views, was shot dead in front of her house here on September 5 last year, triggering national outrage and widespread condemnation.
The SIT said artificial Intelligence systems were used to extract images of suspected people and vehicles to compare with the footage obtained from 200 terabytes of video data from the CCTV cameras installed at major roads and junctions by the Bengaluru City Police.
The SIT said it interviewed and examined more than 2500 people and also traced 10,000 suspected two-wheelers and interviewed their owners.
Experts also analysed lakhs of cell phone tower dumps and mobile phone numbers, it said.
The SIT had filed the first charge sheet in May and the additional one on Friday last.
In August 2016, at a meeting of the Syndicate, the main members identified Lankesh as a "Durjan" "as told in the Kshatra Dharma Sadhana based on her speeches and writings," the SIT said.
They jointly hatched a conspiracy to murder Lankesh in furtherance of the achievement of their goal and executed it in several parts, the SIT said detailing the progress of investigation after filing the additional charge sheet.
Two months after the gang zeroed in on Lankesh, its member Vasudev Suryavamshi alias Mechanic and Sujith Kumar stole a bike and gave it to the alleged mastermind Amol Kale, it said.
Further, Dada alias Nihal, who is at large, assigned H L Suresh to find the address of Lankesh, it said, adding, Amit Baddi and Ganesh Miskin carried out the recce on her.
A fortnight before the killing, syndicate members Parashuram Waghmare and Ganesh Miskin carried out shooting practice in a hilly region near Kiniye in Belagavi, according to the SIT.
The team said Bharat Kurne took Ganesh Miskin, Parshuram Waghmare and Sharad Kalaskar to Kiniye.
Sharad Kalaskar trained Waghmare and Miskin how to shoot using country made pistols.
The shooting practice was last of the final preparations and planning, the SIT said.
According to the investigation team, the first attempt to kill Lankesh was made on September 4 but it did not materialise.
The next day, Ganesh Miskin rode the bike while Waghmare was the pillion rider.
They parked their bike near Lankesh's house and waited for 10 minutes.
Soon after Lankesh came home, Waghmare fired four bullets, killing her instantaneously, the SIT said.
While 16 members have been arrested, two are still at large.
They have been identified as Vikas Patil alias Dada and Rushikesh Deodikar alias Murali, the SIT said.
During the probe, the SIT said, various line of investigations were taken up probing the angle of personal enmity, involvement of left-wing extremism, profession related and right wing extremism.
However, "The first breakthrough in the case happened when the material objects recovered from the scene of crime were analysed at the State Forensic Science Laboratory here.
The forensic ballistic analysis established that the pistol used to murder Lankesh was the same pistol used to murder MM Kalburgi at Dharwad in Karnataka and Govind Pansare at Kolhapur in Maharashtra (all rationalists), the SIT said.
Footage of several CCTV systems within a radius of five km of Lankesh's house were collected and examined minutely for further clues. This included footage of four CCTV cameras installed at Lankesh's house.
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Man wanted in rape-murder case of his 4-year-old niece killed in police encounter in Ghaziabad
Ghaziabad (UP) (PTI): A 55-year-old criminal wanted in the case of rape and murder of his four-year-old niece was killed in a police encounter late on Sunday night in Uttar Pradesh's Ghaziabad district, a police official said on Monday.
In the joint operation carried out by the police and Crime Branch, the accused Jeeshan, carrying a cash reward of Rs 50,000, allegedly opened fire to evade arrest, resulting in injuries to two personnel, the police said.
According to the police, at around 12 noon on April 11, Jeeshan allegedly lured the child from outside her home on the pretext of buying her toffees. He took her to his room, where he allegedly raped her and subsequently strangled her to death. Following the crime, the accused carried the body on his shoulders and dumped it under a car on an 80-foot road in the Shalimar Garden police station area before fleeing.
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Two days ago, his presence was captured on CCTV footage at Delhi railway station when he was trying to flee out of Delhi. The police received a tip-off that the accused was scheduled to meet someone near the Banthla canal in Loni, the police said.
Following this, a team of the Teela Morh police station barricaded the area, and began checking. They spotted the suspect and signalled him to stop. Upon seeing the police, Jeeshan attempted to flee. Finding himself encircled by the police, he allegedly opened fire on the police team. The police fired in self-defence, in which the accused sustained gunshot wounds. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the police said.
ACP Shalimar Garden Atul Kumar Singh said that the accused was killed in retaliatory firing and the injured policemen -- head constables Amit and Iqbal -- are out of danger.
The body of the deceased has been sent for a post-mortem examination, Singh said, and added that the police have recovered weapons and cartridges from his possession.
