Four year after crime, trial court frame charges against 18 accused in Gauri Lankesh Murder Case

Bengaluru, 01 Nov 2021 [varthabharati]: In what has come as a major development in the murder case of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, a trial court in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 30 framed charges against 18 accused in the case.

11 of the accused lodged in Bengaluru Central Jail and seven other accused lodged in Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai and Pune’s Yerwada Jail were produced before the Court through video conferencing as a part of proceedings.

Amol Kale has been named as accused number one. Amit Degwekar and Sujith Kumar have been named as the prime conspirators who planned the murder.

The other accused are Ganesh Miskin, Amith Badd, Bharath Kurane, Suresh HL, Rajesh Bangera, Sudhanva Gondalekar, Sharad Kalaskar, Mohan Nayak, Vasudev Suryavamshi, Manohara Edave, Srikanth Pangarkar, Naveen Kumar, and Rushikesh Deodikar. They have been charged under the following sections: Sections  302 (punishment for murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 114 (absent abettor when the crime is committed), 118 (concealing design to commit offence), 109 (offence of abetment for the act of committing the murder), 201 (disappearance of evidence of offence), 203 (giving false information with respect ot an offence), 204 (destruction of evidence), 35 (an act done with a criminal knowledge or intention) of the Indian Penal code as well as sections of the Arms Act and Karnataka Organised Crime Act.

The SIT had identified the shooter as Parashuram Waghmare.

The charges were read over and explained to the accused persons in the language known to them in Marathi and Kannada.

“The accused persons after having understood the same pleaded not guilty and claim to be tried. The obtaining of the signature of the accused on the certificate of charge is dispensed with since the same is recorded through video conferencing,” the court noted.

The court further ordered Bengaluru Central jail authority not to transfer any of the accused to any other prison without a specific order from this court in that regard so as to conduct a smooth trial.

Journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in front of her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017, by bike-borne assailants.