Almost five years on, trial begins in Bengaluru for 18 accused of killing journalist Gauri Lankesh

The trial in the case was set to begin with the recording of evidence from the first court witness, Kavitha Lankesh, the younger sister of the slain journalist on whose complaint the murder case was registered by the Raja Rajeshwari Nagar police on September 5, 2017. The prosecution, however, chose to start the trial by recording the evidence from court witness number four, who was a close associate of accused K T Naveen Kumar. The prosecution is being led by special public prosecutor S Balan.

The court summoned the first court witness on May 27 to commence the trial but did not record the statement since some of the accused lodged in a Maharashtra jail were not produced in court. “The jail authorities at Bengaluru and Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai, are directed to ensure the virtual presence of the accused during the trial,” the court said in an order on May 27.

The court of the principal sessions judge has drawn up a schedule for conducting the trial on a regular basis with hearings being held for five days during the second week of every month. The trial will begin with hearings to be held from July 4 to 8. It has also set the ground rules for the trial. “The witnesses are to be cross-examined continuously after the examination in chief and if the defence wants to cross-examine a particular witness after another witness is examined, an application to that effect has to be filed in advance. The parties are impressed upon not to file any applications for recalling of witnesses and it is made clear that any such move would entail heavy costs,” it stated.

The decks were cleared for the trial in October 2021 when charges of murder, organised crime and gun crimes were framed against 17 members of an extremist right-wing syndicate by the principal sessions court. The framing of charges had been delayed for over two years on account of the Covid pandemic and multiple applications filed by the accused. Charges have been framed under Indian Penal Code Section 302 (murder), Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) and others related to crimes carried out with criminal knowledge and intention, as well as under the Karnataka Organised Crime Act and the Arms Act.

Plot to kill ‘anti-Hindu’ voices

The arrested accused, who were allegedly trained by a secretive right-wing group in using guns and explosives, are alleged to have targeted the journalist for being “anti-Hindu”. They have pleaded not guilty. The accused had allegedly created a syndicate to carry out killings and attacks—primarily in Karnataka and Maharashtra—between 2013 and 2018.

Lankesh, an outspoken critic of Hindutva, was shot dead outside her west Bengaluru home by two motorcycle-borne assassins. She was editor of the Kannada tabloid Lankesh Patrike, founded by her late father, highly regarded writer P Lankesh.

“The members of this organisation targeted persons who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in Kshatra Dharma Sadhana, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha,” the police said after filing an additional 9,235-page chargesheet on November 23, 2018. A preliminary chargesheet was filed earlier.

Early in their investigation, the police found that the 7.65 mm country-made pistol used to gun down the journalist was allegedly the same gun that was used to kill Kannada scholar M M Kalburgi, 77, at his home in Dharwad on August 30, 2015. The same gun was also found to have allegedly been used to shoot Leftist thinker Govind Pansare, 81, in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, on February 16, 2015 (he died on February 20, 2015), while a second gun used in the Pansare shooting was found to match with a gun allegedly used to shoot Maharashtra rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, 69, in Pune on August 20, 2013.

The investigation in the Lankesh murder case revealed the existence of a network of Hindutva extremists in the country. Several of the accused in the case allegedly received arms and explosives training from people identified only by fake names and suspected of links to terrorist acts in the 2006-2008 period.

The arrested accused are Amol Kale, 37; Parashuram Waghmore, 27; Ganesh Miskin, 27; Amith Baddi, 27; Amith Degvekar, 38; Bharath Kurane, 37; Suresh H L, 36; Rajesh Bangera, 50; Sudhanva Gondalekar, 39; Sharad Kalaskar, 25; Mohan Nayak, 50; Vasudev Suryavanshi, 29; Sujith Kumar, 37; Manohara Edave, 29; Srikanth Pangarkar, 40; K T Naveen Kumar, 37; and Rushikesh Deodikar, 44.

Brief profiles of the accused

1. Amol Kale alias Topiwala alias Bhai Sab

A former coordinator of the Chinchwad Pune region unit of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, a fringe Hindutva group affiliated to the Sanatan Sanstha, he is accused of planning the Lankesh murder, recruiting shooters from right-wing fringe groups and providing training and guns.

2. Parashuram Waghmare alias Builder

The alleged shooter of Gauri Lankesh. A Sri Ram Sena activist, he was recruited by Kale after he was arrested and released for raising the Pakistan flag in his home town of Sindagi in Vijayapura as part of an attempt to foment communal trouble.

3. Ganesh Miskin alias Mithun

A youth recruited by Kale after his involvement in communal violence in Hubbali. He was allegedly the motorcycle rider who ferried the shooter for the murder. He was linked to Sri Ram Sena. He has been named as the shooter in the August 30, 2015 murder of Kannada scholar M M Kalburgi.

4. Amit Baddi alias Govinda
Accused of being one of two persons who were in a getaway car used by the killers. He was part of the training for the murder. He was allegedly recruited by Amol Kale from Hubbali along with Miskin after his involvement in communal violence.

5. Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep Mahajan
A resident of the Sanatan Sanstha ashram in Ponda, Goa, he is suspected to be the link between the Sanatan Sanstha and Kale’s secret group. He also worked as a promoter of the Sanatan Prabhat, a Sanstha publication.

6. Bharat Kurne alias Uncle alias Tomatar

Linked to the Maharashtra group Shri Shiv Pratishtan Hindustan, Kurne was in the getaway car along with Baddi. His farm in Belagavi served as a gun training camp for Kale’s recruits. He cooked food for the shooter and his associates at a hideout rented by Kale around 15 km from Lankesh’s home.

7. Suresh H L alias Teacher

A Hindu Janajagruti Samiti “seeker”, he is accused of sheltering several of the accused at his home on the outskirts of Bengaluru. He is also said to have identified Lankesh’s home first.

8. Rajesh Bangera alias Sir
An arms trainer who provided shooting training at many locations including at Kurne’s farmhouse.

9. Sudhanva Gondalekar alias Pandeyji
A Maharashtra businessman with links to the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti and the Shiv Pratishtan Hindustan and right-wing terrorism cases registered against him, Gondalekar was also part of the planning and execution of the murder.

10. Sharad Kalaskar alias Chotu
An accused in the Narendra Dabholkar, he was the custodian of the guns used in the murders.

11. Mohan Nayak alias Sampaje

A logistics provider, he is linked to procuring SIM cards with fake IDs for the syndicate members. He also rented a house near Lankesh’s home on the pretext of running an acupuncture clinic.

12. Vasudev Suryavanshi alias Mechanic
A mechanic from Maharashtra, he allegedly stole motorcycles for the right-wing gang.

13. Sujith Kumar alias Praveen
A former Hindu Janajagruti Samiti activist from Karnataka who played the role of a recruiter and was a key link between the planners and recruits for Kale’s group.

14. Manohar Yadave
A recruiter and logistics provider for the group.

15. Vikas Patil alias Dada alias Nihal (not arrested)

16. Srikanth Pangarkar alias Praji
A former Shiv Sena corporator associated with the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, Pangarkar is alleged to be a financier for the group. He also allegedly arranged arms and explosives training sites in Maharashtra.

17. K T Naveen Kumar
A former Sri Ram Sena member who was involved with the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, the Karnataka resident was allegedly involved in planning an attack on Kannada writer K S Bhagwan. His arrest, the first in the Lankesh case, provided major leads for the arrest of other accused.

18. Rushikesh Deodikar alias Murali alias Shiva
A former Hindu Janajagruti Samiti activist and founding member of the secretive group founded in 2011, Deodikar is accused of planning the murder of Lankesh and the destruction of evidence.

A timeline of the investigation

September 5, 2017: Journalist Gauri Lankesh, 55, is shot dead outside her Bengaluru home with a 7.65mm countrymade pistol.
September 13, 2017: The Karnataka forensic science laboratory’s ballistic report says Lankesh was killed with the same gun used to kill scholar M M Kalburgi in Dharwad in 2015.
September 2017: The SIT starts studying the activities of radical right-wing activists since the CBI probe in the Dabholkar case, and the Maharashtra SIT probe in the Pansare case, had suggested the involvement of activists linked to radical outfits like the Sanatan Sanstha and its affiliate the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) in the two murders in Maharashtra.
January 2018: The SIT intercepts telephone conversations of Hindu Yuva Sena and HJS-linked activist K T Naveen Kumar, 38, with references to involvement in the Lankesh murder and plans to carry out another murder.
February 18, 2018: Naveen Kumar is arrested for the possession of illegal arms. Investigations reveal he has knowledge of the Gauri Lankesh murder.
March 2, 2018: K T Naveen Kumar is placed under arrest in the Gauri Lankesh murder case.
May 19, 2018: The SIT tracks down Sujith Kumar alias Praveen a former HJS activist on whose instructions Naveen Kumar was trying to get a gun as part of plans by Sujith Kumar and others to carry out the murder of K S Bhagwan.
May 20, 2018: Based on information from Sujith Kumar, the Karnataka SIT arrests three men—Amol Kale, Amit Degwekar, and Manohar Yadave from Vijayapura, whose family is associated with the HJS.
May 31, 2018: Sujith Kumar, Kale, Degwekar and Yadave are arrested by SIT for planning and executing the Lankesh murder after the discovery of rough maps for location of her home and details of weapons and a recce in their diaries.
June 12, 2018: Parashuram Waghmare, a Sri Ram Sena activist is arrested and identified as the shooter of Lankesh on the basis of Kale’s diary. Waghmare provides a confession statement admitting he is the shooter and that he was trained at Kale’s instance.
July 22, 2018: Ganesh Miskin, the alleged rider of the bike that transported the shooter to Lankesh’s home, is arrested.
July 23, 2018: Rajesh Bangera, an alleged arms trainer, is arrested.
July 25, 2018: Suresh H L, a former HJS man who allegedly sheltered the killers and stored the guns after the murder, is arrested.
August 9, 2018: Bharat Kurne arrested for allegedly helping the killers escape in a car and for providing a farm near Belagavi for arms training.
August 2018: The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad arrests Sharad Kalaskar and Sudanva Gondhalekar in a terror plot, on the basis of clues obtained from the Lankesh murder probe.
September – October 2018: The SIT arrests Kalaskar, Gondhalekar, former Shiva Sena corporator Shrikant Pangarkar and Vasudev Suryavanshi in the Lankesh case. Kalaskar was arrested by the CBI for his involvement in the Dabholkar murder.
November 23, 2018: An additional chargesheet filed in the Lankesh murder case against 18 persons.
January 2020: Rushikesh Deodikar, one of the two absconding accused, is arrested in Jharkhand.