BENGALURU: Journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead at her home in Bengaluru , was a fierce activist, who openly expressed her pro-Naxal and Leftist views.
Ms Lankesh, 55, was the daughter of P Lankesh, a leading Kannada journalist who founded the Kannada weekly tabloid “Lankesh Patrike”.
Her siblings — Kavitha and Indrajit Lankesh — are film and theatre personalities.
Ms Lankesh started her own Kannada tabloid “Gauri Lankesh Patrike” in 2005 after quitting as editor of the paper founded by her father, allegedly over differences with her brother who is also the paper’s proprietor and publisher.
Last year, Ms Lankesh was convicted in a defamation case filed by BJP MP Pralhad Joshi and a party office bearer, Umesh Doshi, who objected to a report on them that ran in 2008 in her paper.
Karnataka home minister Ramalinga Reddy on Monday claimed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the killing of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh has got clues and is in the process of gathering evidence.
He said: “If there are no proper evidence when we file a charge sheet at the court, it won’t stand. So we are trying to collect the evidence correctly… Our SIT is working towards gathering evidence.”
The minister had on September 9 made similar claims about SIT having gathered “some clues” in connection with the case, as he expressed hopes about nabbing the culprits soon.
The Karnataka government, which has constituted the SIT headed by IGP (Intelligence) B K Singh, has announced a Rs 10 lakh reward to anyone who gives clues about the killing that led to outrage and protests.
As a political slug fest broke out over the killing, her family had pleaded against giving a political colour to it.
The family had said the investigators should look into all angles behind Gauri’s killing, whether it was right wing or Naxals, as reports have emerged about a possible Naxal hand, other than suspected involvement of right-wing extremists, the ideology Gauri opposed.
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