Suspect in Gauri Lankesh murder under CBI lens in Dabholkar case

Amol Kale, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune has been earlier interrogated by the CBI in Bengaluru in June, in connection with the Dabholkar murder case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will now interrogate Amol Kale, the man arrested for the murder of journalist–activist Gauri Lankesh, in connection with the killing of Narendra Dabholkar.

People hold placards and candles during a vigil for Gauri Lankesh in Ahmedabad on September 6, 2017. (Reuters)

Kale who has been arrested by the Karnataka special investigation team (SIT) is believed to be one of the key conspirators in the murder of Dabholkar, a senior CBI official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media, told HT.

Kale, 39, a resident of Pimpri-Chinchwad near Pune has been earlier interrogated by the CBI in Bengaluru in June, in connection with the Dabholkar murder case.

The Bengaluru SIT, which is probing the Lankesh murder, had recovered a diary with names of 26 individuals who, according to the suspect Kale, were “anti-Hindu”.

The CBI suspects that Vinod Tawade, already in jail, and Kale are co-conspirators in the killing of Dabholkar. According to agency officials, the CBI team is likely to interrogate Kale soon in order to unearth the entire conspiracy behind the rationalist’s murder. CBI officials in the remand report have stated that Sachin Andure, arrested on Saturday in Pune, and another person, whom the agency has refused to name, shot Dabholkar upon orders given by Tawade.

They were provided with two weapons and keys to a two-wheeler. They reached a mall near Omkareshwar temple where they parked the bike at 7.10 am. They confirmed the identity of Dr Dabholkar from a pedestrian passing by, after which the unidentified person fired two rounds, and Andure one round, at Dabholkar. They drove on the two-wheeler out of the city, parked the bike and fled to Aurangabad, reaching at 5 pm the same day, CBI sources have said.

Bengaluru police first arrested Kale on May 21 and later conducted a search and seizure operation at his residence on May 23. Kale was placed under arrested in Lankesh murder case on May 31.