Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing Gauri Lankesh murder claimed knowledge of a “larger conspiracy” behind the murder and submitted related details with names of other suspects to the court in a sealed cover on Friday.

A massive manhunt has been launched to nab these suspects, along with one Praveen, who was named as an accused in the court based on inputs given by K.T. Naveen Kumar who has been arrested in the case.

To a specific question by the judge whether Naveen was the main accused, assistant public prosecutor Nirmal Rani said, “The main accused are yet to be arrested and the details have been submitted in a sealed cover.” A senior SIT official said Naveen was indeed in knowledge of the conspiracy and “aided and assisted its execution”, but in a “peripheral role”.

The SIT has sought permission of the court to conduct of neuro-psychological assessment tests — narco analysis, polygraph (called the lie detector test) and brain electrical oscillation signature profiling (brain mapping) — on Naveen Kumar.

“While the accused has revealed some information, he has also been concealing a lot. So these tests are necessary,” assistant public prosecutor Nirmal Rani told the court.

SIT sources also said TH that they had sent voice samples of Naveen to the FSL, Madiwala, to be matched with some of the audio recordings they had of Naveen during surveillance. They have also sent visuals of the reconstruction of a recce of Gauri’s house to be matched with visual of CCTV camera footage showing a man doing a recce of the house on September 3 and 5, 2017.

 

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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.