Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by two bike-borne men on September 5, 2017.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: A Bengaluru court on January 8 granted bail to another accused in the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh.
With the bail of Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar, the 17 accused in Gauri’s murder are out on bail.
Of the 18 accused, Vikas Patil (accused No 15) is currently at large and yet to be arrested by the police.
The bail was granted to Kalaskar by Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge Muralidhara Pai B Kalaskar who had been in custody since September 2018 and was granted bail on grounds of parity, according to reports.
Gauri was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on the night of September 5, 2017, outside her R R Nagar house in Bengaluru. A special investigation team (SIT) was set up by the Karnataka government, which cracked the case and named 18 accused, including mastermind Amol Kale, shooter Parashuram Waghmare, and Ganesh Miskin, who rode the motorcycle.
The accused face charges under Sections 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 118 (concealing design to commit offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life), 203 (giving false information respecting an offence committed) and 35 (when such an act is criminal by reason of its being done with a criminal knowledge or intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),
The accused also face charges under the stringent Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act (KCOCA), 2000, and the Arms Act.