Gauri Lankesh murder: SIT nabs key conspirator near Dhanbad

Katras: In a major breakthrough in the murder of veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh, a Karnataka SIT team has tracked down and arrested one of the key conspirators from Jharkhand's Dhanbad district.

The accused has been identified as Rushikesh Devdikar, who was working in a petrol pump here, under Dhanbad district.

According to information from the probe team, Rushikesh is "one of the key conspirators" and his name had come during investigations.

The probe team zeroed in on the accused after tracing his mobile location. For further clues, SIT officials also searched his room from where they found books and other material of a particular ideology.

On questioning the owner and further investigation, the SIT team found that Rushikesh was working in the petrol pump here as a caretaker for the last six to seven months with a change in identity. He came looking for a job saying he was unemployed.

It has also been found that the accused has an association with a right-wing Hindu group called Sanatan Sanstha. Rushikesh is accused number 18 in this case.

Earlier, a special investigation team (SIT), probing the murder of Gauri Lankesh, had named Sanatan Sanstha in its additional charge-sheet. It also claimed that the 18 accused were members of an organised crime syndicate.

The veteran journalist was shot dead outside her house in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017 when she returned home from work. Six of the accused in this case are also accused in the murder of renowned Kannada writer MM Kalburgi. They were also linked to Sanatan Sanstha, which, however, dismissed SIT's allegations in connection with the murder.