Witness: Plot to kill Gauri Lankesh hatched in Vijayanagar park

BENGALURU: Sujit Kumar and Naveen Kumar, two of the accused in journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh murder case, hatched the plot in a park near Adichunchanagiri complex in Vijayanagar, Bengaluru, in August 2017, a panch witness told a special court.
Sateesh HB, a first division assistant (FDA) with the state education department, told the court on February 17 that he was present with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) sleuth when the latter took Sujit Kumar to the park in Vijayanagar for a spot inquest on June 4, 2018.
"In the park, Sujit Kumar explained to the SIT how he and Naveen Kumar sat on a bench and hatched the conspiracy in August 2017. According to Sujit, they decided to kill Gauri Lankesh for defaming Hindu religion and gods," Sateesh, a resident of Nagasandra, deposed, according to the court documents accessed by TOI.
Gauri was shot dead outside her RR Nagar residence on the night of September 5, 2017. Sujit Kumar alias Praveen is from Shivamogga. According to the SIT chargesheet, Praveen, a close associate of mastermind and prime accused Amol Kale, assigned Naveen Kumar from Maddur to do the recee on Gauri. Sateesh identified Sujit Kumar, who is in judicial custody at Bengaluru Central Prison, during a video conference.
"Sujit refused to sign on some documents given to him by SIT sleuths that day," he recalled. During cross-examination, Sateesh couldn't recall whether the gates of the park had locks on them or not.