Gauri's assassins also tracked rationalist Narendra Nayak
Mangaluru: The group accused of murdering journalist Gauri Lankesh also watched the activities of Prof. Narendra Nayak of Mangaluru, the president of Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, and identified him as a target, reported The Indian Express.
Rajesh Bangera (50), one of the accused in the Gauri murder case, had tracked the movements of Narendra Nayak in Mangaluru for two days in 2016, says SIT in its report to the court.
Bangera, allegedly the arms trainer of the group, trained four youths namely Mohan, Yathin, Yathish and Kumud to use guns before the surveillance began, the police alleged.
A diary recovered from main accused in the Lankesh case, Amol Kale, lists Mysuru's rationalist thinker Prof K S Bhagwan, Mangaluru's rationalist Prof. Narendra Nayak, Swami Nijuguanand and Bengaluru's playwright Girish Karnad as “targets.”
It is also alleged that the diary had listed the names, in code words, of those who would carry out the murders. After assassinating Lankesh, the group had planned to assassin Prof. Bhagwan in Mysore in February 2018. However, the SIT probe in the Lankesh murder achieved a breakthrough, resulting in disruption of the plan.
The police have registered a separate case against seven of the 18 persons accused in the Lankesh murder case on the charges of plotting to murder Prof. Bhagwan.
In its chargesheet, the SIT has documented the finding of 16 bundles of copies of Sanatan Prabhat, the mouthpiece of Sanatan Sanstha, at the home of Bangera after his arrest.
The SIT has filed a 9,235-page chargesheet against 18 persons in the Lankesh case. Of them, 16 arrested and two are still on large.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
