Bengaluru, June 12: Parshuram Waghmare, arrested by the Karnataka Police's Special Investigation Team on Monday, has reportedly confessed to have fired the fatal bullet at journalist Gauri Lankesh.
Waghmare, 26, is reportedly associated with far-right Hindutva outfit Sanatan Sanstha. As per the preliminary reports emerging, Waghmare revealed to the interrogators that he worked in close coordination with KT Naveen Kumar and Praveen, the key conspirators in the murder of Lankesh.
The spree of arrests by SIT in the Lankesh murder case came after accused Naveen Kumar's confession. In his "voluntary statement" to the police, Naveen claimed he, along with Praveen, another Hindutva activist, planned the assassination of Lankesh for her "anti-Hindu views". Naveen also named Mohan Gowda, the convenor of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), in his confessional statement.
While Naveen was arrested on February 18 this year, the police cracked down on four main conspirators - Manohar Edve (30), Sujith Kumar alias Praveen (37), Amol Kale alias Bhaisab (40) and Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep - on May 29.
Lankesh was murdered on September 5, 2017. The 62-year-old's murder created outrage with vigil marches taken out by civil society members and journalists across the nation. The late scribe was best known for writings against caste oppression, communal politics and hardline Hindutva.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 12, 2018 05:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).