The 21-member Special Investigation Team has been bolstered with the addition of 49 police personnel to expedite the investigation into the murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, who was gunned down outside her house at Rajarajeshwarinagar on September 5.
Senior officers in the team said that while they were still analysing CCTV camera footage, they were not groping in the dark, but have vital clues. “The investigation is progressing in the right direction. We have strong leads,” said a highly placed source in the Home Department on Saturday. However, the source refused to divulge the nature of the leads as that would hamper their investigation.
An SIT officer told The Hindu they believe the gunman had local logistic support to commit the murder. “We are looking at those who might have helped the perpetrators,” said the police officer.
“We have some clues about how the crime was committed and how many people were involved , but investigations are still on to identify the assailant,” a senior police officer said.
The investigators have also spoken to Gauri’s brother Indrajit Lankesh.
With many theories on the people behind Gauri’s murder doing the rounds, investigation agencies across the country are probing every angle.
A team of officials from the Anti-Naxal Force of Andhra Pradesh arrived in the city on Friday to see if there was any truth to the hypothesis that Gauri had been killed by Maoists.
Another Central investigating agency authorities met with the SIT on Friday to discuss the case.
