The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh, on Friday, got custody of Sudhanva Gondhalekar, 39, an activist from Satara in Maharashtra and a member of the Shivpratishthan Hindustan.
The Maharashtra Anti Terror Squad (ATS), acting on intelligence provided by the SIT, had recovered several country-made pistols from him. He was arrested on August 10 and booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for alleged terror conspiracy. A court in Bengaluru on Friday granted custody of Gondhalekar to the SIT for 14 days.
According to the SIT, Gondhalekar played a key role in the planning and execution of the hit. Nine days after Gauri was murdered on September 5, 2017, he allegedly travelled to Bengaluru from Satara and collected the murder weapon – a country made pistol – from H.L. Suresh, another accused in the case. Amol Kale, the alleged mastermind, had stayed in Suresh’s residence in Seegehalli on the day of the murder.
“Suresh revealed that one 'Govinda', an associate of Kale, collected the pistol from him on September 14. Kale's diary had an entry with the name, and a technical analysis revealed that his operational phone number was based out of Satara. We alerted Maharashtra ATS and gave them leads on several suspects,” said a senior SIT official.
The ATS worked on the leads and arrested five men, including Gondhalekar. “Suresh identified Gondhalekar as Govinda,” the official added. The pistols recovered are being tested at the FSL in Mumbai to see if there is a ballistic match with the cartridges found at the scene of the crime.
According to SIT sources, Gondhalekar was also near Gauri's residence hours before her murder, doing a recce. CCTV cameras in an apartment on a road adjoining her residence captured a man moving around suspiciously for 15 seconds at 4.30 p.m. He has been identified as Gondhalekar.
He was allegedly part of a second recce team organised by Kale, but not known to the team that carried out the murder. He had allegedly sheltered Sujith Kumar alias Praveen in Satara between February and May 2018 when the police had launched a manhunt for him.
