Suspected killer of Gauri Lankesh to undergo lie-detector test

BENGALURU: The main accused in journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder will have to undergo a narco-analysis test. A Special Investigation Team, who has been given the custody for the probe, will conduct the lie-detector test.

Last Friday, the Bengaluru Magistrate Court had granted a 5-day custody of accused KT Naveen Kumar, 37.

During interrogation, the 37-year-old had told the cops that he paid Rs 1000 for each bullet for the murder which was sourced from Uttar Pradesh. Kumar, who hails from Birur town in Chikkamagaluru district, was arrested on February 18 by the SIT of Karnataka Police after he was identified with the help of CCTV footage.

Lankesh was shot dead by unknown bike assailants outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5 last year. She was the editor of the Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a tabloid known for "anti-establishment" views.

The sensational murder of the journalist had sparked an outrage across the country and triggered several protests across the country and especially in prominent parts of Karnataka.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had termed the killing of Gauri Lankesh "an onslaught on humanity" and had said that his government would ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.

The government is "honest" in its efforts to find those behind the killing and bring them to justice, Siddaramaiah had told the Legislative Assembly. "It is a cruel death... It is an onslaught on humanity," Siddaramaiah had said during the obituary reference to Lankesh in the House.

"We have still not been able to nab those who killed her. A SIT has been formed to nab them," he had said.

Informing the Assembly that killers of rationalist MM Kalburgi were also yet to be found, the CM said, "The government and investigating team are honest in their efforts to nab the culprits."

The Karnataka government later formed a 21-member SIT, led by Inspector General of Police B K Singh, to investigate the case.