SIT on Lankesh killing to probe Kalburgi case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday handed over probe in the murder of rationalist M M Kalburgi to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is probing Gauri Lankesh murder case.


A bench of Justices R F Nariman and Vineet Saran said there were similarities in two murder cases and the probe should be done by a single agency. The court also said the probe would be monitored by the Karnataka HC. The court passed the order on a plea of Kalburgi's wife Umadevi Mallinath Kalburgi who approached the court alleging that the state police (CID) was not probing the case properly and sought a court-monitored SIT probe .

Former vice-chancellor of Hampi University, Prof M M Kalburgi (77) was shot dead in August 2013 at his Bengaluru residence in broad daylight. Umadevi said in her petition that the murder "left every right-minded person in the society shell-shocked" and should not go unpunished.

She alleged that there was a link between the murder of her husband and that of activists Narendra Achyut Dabholkar, Govindrao Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh. Questioning the ongoing probe by the state police, she pleaded that the investigation be handed over to a special team.

"Every offence is a crime against the society and is unpardonable, yet there are some species of ghastly, revolting and villainous violations of the invaluable right to life which leave all sensible and right -minded persons of the society shell-shocked and traumatised in the body and soul," she said.

A day after 55-year old Lankesh was shot dead at close range by unknown assailants at her home on September 5, 2017, the state government had formed SIT to probe her murder.

After the Karnataka police in its status report said there appeared to be an "intimate connection" between the murders of Kalburgi and Lankesh, the apex court directed that both the cases be probed by SIT.