Bengaluru: The Hindutva extremist arrested in connection with the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh attended at least five different meetings of the Sanatan Sanstha and its affiliate, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), last year in Bengaluru and Maddur in Karnataka, and Ponda in Goa, investigations have found.
On March 2 this year, the Special Investigation Team probing the murder arrested 37-year-old K T Naveen Kumar, who belongs to Maddur in south Karnataka’s Mandya district, after investigations revealed that he played a crucial role in the planning and execution of the murder by spying on Lankesh and guiding her killers.
To substantiate Naveen Kumar’s role in the murder, the SIT had presented to a magistrate’s court in Bengaluru a voluntary statement given by him ahead of his arrest. The SIT is currently investigating the larger conspiracy behind the killing, and Naveen Kumar’s association with the Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS. Rogue elements from these groups have been linked to the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, and the Leftist thinker Govind Pansare, in Maharashtra in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
A digital trail on social media and the Internet shows Naveen Kumar attended at least five meetings of various sizes organised by the HJS and Sanatan Sanstha at various places in 2017 to discuss, among other things, the establishment of a Hindu Rashtra in India.
Kumar, who was the Maddur president of the Hindu Yuva Sena, was present at the HJS’s first-ever meeting in that town in March 2017. Kumar gathered over 40 youths for the meeting, which was held on the rooftop of a building in Maddur, and was addressed by the HJS’s Karnataka spokesperson, Mohan Gowda.
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The event occurred at midnight, when the delivery executive was issued an order containing three packets of rat poison. According to his account shared later in a video, the timing of the order immediately raised concern. On reaching the delivery address, he found that the woman who had placed the order visibly distressed and crying.
Believing the situation required caution, the delivery executive chose not to hand over the items and spoke to the woman and tried to understand what she was going through, telling her that no problem justified harming oneself. During the conversation, he directly asked whether the poison had been ordered with the intention of ending her life.
Although the woman initially denied it, he continued to communicate with her and persuaded her to rethink. The woman cancelled the order, following a brief talk. The delivery executive later said in the video that the decision gave him a sense of comfort since he believed he had been able to prevent a potential tragedy.
After the video surfaced on social media, users praised the delivery executive for acting with care and responsibility. “Humanity at its best,” one user wrote, while another commented, “That’s not just a delivery guy, that’s a guardian angel in a green jacket.”
