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.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Korba (Chhattisgarh)(PTI): A 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped by five men, including the driver of police's emergency response service vehicle, in Chhattisgarh's Korba district, police said on Saturday.

Two accused, including the driver of Dial 112 police helpline vehicle, have been taken into custody, they said.

The incident took place on January 8 night under the Bankimongra police station limits when one of the five accused known to the victim called her, a police official here said.

The accused took the girl to a deserted house in Bankimongra, where the driver and four others allegedly took turns to rape her, he said.

After the incident, the accused fled the spot, leaving the victim in an unconscious condition. The victim later managed to reach her home and narrated the ordeal to her family members, who immediately took her to the medical college hospital and later informed the police, he said.

The case was initially registered as a zero FIR at the Civil Lines police station on Friday and later transferred to Bankimongra police station for investigation, he said.

Korba Superintendent of Police Siddharth Tiwari, two accused, including the private driver of 'Dial 112' service have been detained in the case and efforts are on to trace three other accused.