Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 19: The special investigating team (SIT) which is probing the murder of journalist, Gauri Lankesh, is understood to have recommended to the department of home to provide added security to eight intellectuals. The list of people who it has prepared has the name of Jnanpith awardee litterateur, Girish Karnad, it is gathered.

SIT said in its letter to the government that the racket planning murder of rationalists is spread out in north India and that several rationalists and intellectuals from Karnataka are among the gang's targets. In the letter addressed after interrogating Parashuram Waghmare, SIT is said to have included names of Prof Bhagwan, Nijagunanda Swamiji and Nidumamidi Swamiji among others who are perceived to be facing the risk from getting assassinated by the gang.

Gauri Lankesh, Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi and Govind Pansare

The team says that a single brain and similar mindset have been working behind the serial killings of rationalists and that for executing murder plans, local gangs are being formed. "By the way the murders of Pansare, Dabolkar, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh were committed, and taking into account methodology employed and precautions undertaken, we feel that killers involved with all the four murders were trained by the same people. The gang involved with these murders have not left behind any cyber clues. In all four cases, two persons riding a motor bike had participated. Several more things we found during investigations have striking similarities," the officials stated.

SIT feels that the brain behind the murders of Kalburgi and Gauri had visited the spots a week before the operation, checked preparations and verified possibilities, gave suggestions for making certain changes, and went underground in their north India hideouts. The criminal investigation department officials, following the leads, had visited Nepal and collected important leads but there had been missing links. However, several of these loose links are being put together during Gauri murder investigation, sources stated. Several members of the investigating teams spent lot of time in north India as compared to Karnataka, it is gathered.

In the meanwhile, the court, which has taken up bail application moved in the case by K T Naveen Kumar, accused in Gauri murder case, has posted the same to June 21. The high court, which received petition about third degree treatment given to four arrested accused by the police, has ordered to provide documents provided to subordinate courts in the case. Accused Sujith Kumar, Manohar, Kale and Degvekar have moved this applications.

In the meanwhile, Purushotham Wagmare, who is being projected as the killer of Gauri Lankesh, is said to have confessed that he got only Rs 13,000 for this killing and that he agreed to execute this murder not for money but because of ideological differences. He is said to have told the officials that he was approached by a man at Sindhagi to commit this murder, and offered advance of Rs 3,000. After the murder was executed, an unknown person handed to him the balance Rs 10,000 to him, and there were no contacts thereafter with the people concerned, he told the investigators.