Gauri Lankesh murder: 37-year-old taken into custody by SIT for questioning

A 37-year-old man arrested under the Arms Act for illegal possession of ammunition is being questioned in connection with the murder of Kannada tabloid Editor Gauri Lankesh in the city nearly six months ago, police said on Friday.

"K. T. Naveen Kumar was taken into custody by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Karnataka Police," SIT Investigating Officer M.
N. Anucheth told IANS here.

Kumar, who hails from Birur town in Chikmagalur district, about 250km west from here, was booked by the city police on February 19 under the Arms Act for illegal possession of 15 bullets of a revolver, Anucheth said.

The man had been remanded in Crime Branch custody, which ended on Friday.

"Based on certain clues provided by him, the SIT took him into custody for further questioning and investigation," he said.

SIT begins probe into Gauri murder, family against giving political colour

Investigators from the IG-headed SIT on Thursday pored over the CCTV footage of the scene of murder of activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh for clues in the hunt for the killers even as her family spoke against giving "political colour" to the incident.

The brother and sister of 55-year-old Gauri, who was gunned down at her home on Bengaluru on Tuesday night, also appeared divided on the probe with the former saying he would approach the CBI or a court if they don't get justice from investigations by the SIT.

As outrage across the country over the murder grew, Union minister Ramdas Athawale demanded that the killers be immediately arrested and hanged. He also said there was no need for levelling political allegations over the incident.

The Karnataka government on its part said it was hopeful of nabbing the assailants "as soon as possible."

Protest rallies and candlelight vigils were also held for the second day today in several cities. "We need a CBI probe into the murder," said a student protester in Kolkata.
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