Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah calls murder an 'organized crime'

  BENGALURU – Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said a special investigation team (SIT) will be formed to look into the killing of journalist-political activitist Gauri Lankesh on Tuesday night. Inspector-general B K Singh will head the SIT that will be composed of 19 police officers and Bengaluru DCP (West) M N Anucheth will assist Singh. "I've told them to take as many officers as possible and exclusively probe Gauri's murder. It appears to be an organised crime," Siddaramaiah said. Lankesh was shot dead early Tuesday night just as she arrived at her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar from work. Contrary to eyewitness reports that three men shot Lankesh, police commissioner T Suneel Kumar said it was unclear as to how many people gunned down Lankesh. According to a Times of India (TOI) report, Kumar said they had retrieved footage from two CCTV cameras outside Gauri's house but the clip "is not very clear". "But it shows a man wearing a black helmet following Gauri after she gets down from her car and entering the compound and opening fire at her. We are collecting footage from all CCTV cameras along the stretch between Basavanagudi, from where Gauri left, and Rajarajeshwari Nagar before she was shot dead," he said. A police official told TOI that Lankesh had two CCTV cameras installed outside her house 15 days ago and in the CCTV footage, Gauri was seen stopping the car in front of her house and browsed through her mobile phone while she sat inside her car. "Keeping the car engine and headlights on with music playing, Gauri got down and entered the compound using the small gate next to the big one. Then she walked to the big gate and opened the latch. The assailant appeared at this moment, entered the small gate and fired at her. A bullet entered Gauri's rib and she tried to run. The assailant ran behind her and shot at least four more rounds at her and fled," the officer told TOI. "From what we gather, soon after bullets were fired, a single headlight beam was turned on and its light fell on Gauri's car. The next second, the vehicle took a turn and sped away. Its reflection on the car reveals it was a two-wheeler. Based on these facts, we suspect the assailant used a two-wheeler as his getaway vehicle. The assailant is a man of medium height," the official said further. Meanwhile, filmmaker Indrajit Lankesh, Gauri's brother, said the postmortem report showed that three bullets hit Gauri. "Two were found in the lungs, while the third one in the heart. The one which hit the heart proved fatal," he said. Indrajit declined to comment when asked what could be the motive for the killing. "We condemn the killing. Only cowards can indulge in such acts," he said. The Lankesh family has asked that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) handle the probe on Gauri's death. When asked about the Lankesh family's request, Siddaramaiah said: "I am confident the assailants will be nabbed. I am also open to a CBI probe. If the family members are particular about it, we will hand over the probe to the CBI." 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