Lawyers for those accused in the murder of Gauri Lankesh have said that the probe was a “staged action” against outfits working for the welfare of Hindus.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday, advocate N.P. Amrutesh, who is representing some of the accused as well as a part of the Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad, said the Special Investigation Team was foisting false cases to implicate Hindutva activists. “One after the other, they have beaten the accused, extracted false confessions, and implicated others to frame a conspiracy. The SIT has not probed other angles of Naxalism and family dispute behind Gauri’s murder, but rather like the script of a television serial, is looking... to frame the innocent,” he said.
Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, president of the Hindu Vidhidnya Parishad, said the filing of cases under the Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) against the accused showed the “communal nature” of the State government. “In other KCOCA cases, the accused (from minority religion) have been let go on bail and had cases dropped. But in this case, they constantly seek extension to file charge-sheet and torture the accused,” he said.
