Sister thinks only one suspect

Kavitha Lankesh

K.M.Rakesh, TT, Bangalore, Sept. 7: Gauri Lankesh's sister Kavitha Lankesh has said she thinks only one group harboured a possible motive to kill the journalist: "Right-wing activists".

"Only one, I think. The Right-wing activists. Most of it she used to write about that," Kavitha said on being asked which group - Maoists or Hindu Right-wing outfits - she thought was responsible for the death of her sister.

"The Naxalites had nothing to do with it, I think. She only tried to get them for discussions and live a mainstream life. I don't see how that can lead to a threat and kill her," Kavitha added.

"For me, there is no possibility, except her ideology. People who are opposing her ideology... the only reason I have (felt) that killed her. There's nothing else.... Because that's the only reason, because from what we see, she had no personal rivalry," she said in response to another question.

Kavitha and her brother Indrajit addressed a media conference to welcome the appointment of a special investigation team.

Kavitha disclosed that Gauri had told her mother about a stranger hanging around her house on Sunday.

"But she didn't think much about it," Kavitha said, asked whether a police complaint had been lodged. Gauri was shot dead on Tuesday evening.

Kavitha and Indrajit said the entire family was speaking in one voice and wanted results, irrespective of which agency conducted the probe. Indrajit had till now demanded a CBI probe while pointing a finger at Naxalites.

"I never changed my stand. I had only said that Naxalites or Right-wing extremists might be involved and we have to look into it. Ramalinga Reddy (Karnataka home minister) also said that (Naxalite) angle could not be dismissed and had to be investigated," Indrajit said, adding that all he wanted was the arrest of those behind the killing.

"I cannot wait for two years, like the Kalburgi case," he said, alluding to the murder of the rationalist scholar that remains unsolved even after two years.

Flagging similarities between the two killings, Indrajit said nabbing Gauri's killers would help answer a lot of questions on similar cases.

With reporters asking several questions on perceived differences of opinion in the Lankesh family, Kavitha said: "It's created by the media. We are not here for controversy. All of us, including my mother, have a single voice and we just want justice for our sister. Please do not make a media circus out of it."

While a section of the local media had quoted Kavita as airing strong views against her brother, she denied having made any comments until today's media conference. "Till now, I have not talked to anybody," she said.

Indrajit lashed out at those who dubbed his sister as "Naxal sympathiser" on social media. "I criticise that angle. They are trying to term my sister as a Naxalite sympathiser, which is not true. She was only trying to change the system and bring Naxalites to the mainstream by working with the government," he said.

Indrajit described as a social occasion an event he had organised and attended by state BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and senior leader Shobha Karandlaje more than a month ago. He pointed out that a few Lingayat seers had participated as well, described himself as "anti-establishment" and rubbished speculation of joining the BJP.