Gauri Lankesh murder case: SIT gets 5-day custody of Naveen Kumar

A local court on Friday sent T Naveen Kumar, an accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case, to Special Investigation Team (SIT) custody for five days. The 3rd Court of the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate has given the SIT custody of Kumar for 5 days.

Naveen, a right-wing leader from Maddur in Mandya district, was taken into custody by the Central Crime Branch sleuths on February 18 from the Kempegowda Bus stand. BJP leader Shobha Karandlaje had recently accused the Siddaramaiah government of trying to pin the blame on a "Hindu youth". It was seen as a reference to Naveen Kumar. It is suspected that Naveen provided logistics to the killer by conducting a recce around Lankesh's house on September 3 and 5 last year. Naveen had with him over 15 rounds of cartridges of .32 calibre.He was taken into custody for questioning and later a case was filed with the jurisdictional Upparpet police under Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act. Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence here on September 5 last year. The muder had prompted an outpouring of tributes from her colleagues in the media.