Gauri murder suspect backtracks, refuses lie detector test

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has suffered a setback in the Gauri Lankesh murder case as K T Naveen Kumar (38), the sole suspect arrested so far, refused to undergo narcoanalysis tests in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

Kumar had earlier told a sessions court in Bengaluru that he was willing to undergo the tests.

A senior police officer in the SIT told DH that as per the Supreme Court guidelines, Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) officials conducting the tests must take written consent from a suspect even after the court's permission.

FSL officials had given the SIT dates between April 16 and 30 for conducting the tests. SIT sleuths picked up Kumar from the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, on April 14 and took him to Gandhinagar.

When FSL officials explained to Kumar about what will happen to his body when he undergoes polygraph and Brain Electrical Oscillation Signature Profiling (BEOS) tests, he started screaming and threatened to commit suicide. As a result, the tests couldn't take place, and the SIT had to bring him back to Bengaluru.

An SIT official said Kumar's refusal to undergo the tests would be brought to the notice of the court and that they would seek his custody for further interrogation.

Meanwhile, Veda Murthy, the counsel for Kumar, said his bail application was likely to be moved this week.

Kumar, a resident of Maddur, Mandya, was arrested on February 18, 2018, by the CCB for illegally possessing 15 live bullets. He was later handed over to the SIT which made him a suspect in Gauri's murder.