Bengaluru, Nov 24: The special investigation team (SIT), probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, has named Hindu right wing outfit Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge sheet filed before a city court.

The SIT submitted the 9,235-page charge sheet in the Principal Civil and Sessions court here Friday.

The charge sheet stated that a network within Sanatan Sanstha targeted Lankesh for no personal reasons.

It also said the planning to kill Lankesh took place for almost five years.

“The killer and the killed have no personal or any other enmity. Why she was killed? Because she believed in certain ideology, she wrote and spoke on that. So, it must be an ideology and it must be an organisation,” Special Public Prosecutor S Balan told PTI.

The SIT has also sought permission to investigate the case further.

The first charge sheet in the sensational case was filed in May last.

Lankesh, 55, known for her left-leaning and strong anti-Hindutva views was shot dead in front of her house here on September 5 last year, triggering a nationwide outrage.

Soon after the then Siddaramaiah-led government constituted the SIT to probe into the killing.

So far, 18 people have been accused in the crime, including shooter Parashuram Waghmare, masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Degwekar, SIT sources told PTI.

The gang is suspected to be involved in the killing of three other rationalists M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Courtesy: www.hindustantimes.com

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New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.

The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.

The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.

  • Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency

  • Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency

  • BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins

  • TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal

  • In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1

  • UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1

  • BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam

  • AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry

  • TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur

  • BJP takes early lead in Assam

  • Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala

  • In Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South

  • BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam

  • LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency

  • Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats

  • Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats

  • Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.

  • Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.

  • Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.