Trial in Gauri Lankesh killing to start from May 27
Bengaluru(PTI): More than four years after journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by motorcycle-borne men outside her house here, the trial in the case is set to start from May 27, the prosecution lawyer said.
The hearing of the case had not started yet. It will start now from May 27, senior advocate S Balan told PTI.
According to him, more than 60 lawyers were engaged initially by the accused, and their petitions delayed commencement of the trial.
Balan said 17 accused including the alleged kingpin Amol Kale, shooter Waghmore and the motorcycle rider Ganesh Miskin would face the trial while one more accused is at large.
Gauri's sister Kavitha Lankesh expressed her happiness over the beginning of the trial.
Till now hearing was going on related to bail applications. Now we are happy that the trial is beginning , she said.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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