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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New Delhi, Nov 22: In a left-handed compliment to Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena on Friday said she is "a thousand times better" than her predecessor Arvind Kejriwal.

At the seventh convocation ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women here, Saxena said, "I am happy today that Delhi's CM is a woman, and I can confidently say that she is a thousand times better than her predecessor."

While making the comment, he took a glance at Atishi who also addressed the students.

The AAP and BJP have been at loggerheads over a range of issues, including governance and control of bureaucracy. Kejriwal tendered his resignation in September and said he would seek a "certificate of honesty" from the public in light of the corruption charges he faced. Atishi succeeded him as the chief minister.

Last year, Saxena ignored the AAP government's request to allow Atishi, who was then the education minister to hoist the national flag at the state-level Independence Day event.

A row brewed over the issue with the Aam Aadmi Party lashing out at Saxena after the General Administration Department refused to implement Minister Gopal Rai's direction to let Atishi hoist the tricolour in place of former then Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who was in the jail in the excise policy scam.

In his speech, Saxena told the students, "As you move ahead, you have four guiding stars. First is your responsibility towards yourself, the second is your responsibility towards your parents and family while the third responsibility is towards the society and nation-building."

"The fourth responsibility is to prove yourself as women who have broken the glass ceiling of gender and stand on par with others in all fields," he said.

Kejriwal had proposed Atishi's name as the chief minister at a meeting of the legislature party and it was unanimously accepted.

When she took charge of the office, Atishi kept an empty chair besides hers for Kejriwal.

Addressing at the event, Atishi reflected on the progress made in the education sector under the AAP government.

"Education is the key to development. Take the example of the US, Canada, or the UK. They provided free education and schooling, and that is why they are developed countries today."

"Ten years ago, when we formed the government here, we saw the same dream. Since then, we have been spending 25 percent of our education budget on improving the sector," she said.