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Witness who found Lankesh’s body testifies
The two witnesses who appeared before the court were the first to witness the murder of Lankesh, who was shot dead on the night of September 5, 2017, in front of her Rajarajeshwari Nagar home in Bengaluru.
As a part of the ongoing trial, the prosecution on Wednesday presented two more witnesses in the activist-journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case before a special Bengaluru court that resumed hearing on Monday. Since July 4, five witnesses including Lankesh’s sister Kavita who is also the complainant in the case, have been presented before the court.
The two witnesses who appeared before the court were the first to witness the murder of Lankesh, who was shot dead on the night of September 5, 2017, in front of her Rajarajeshwari Nagar home in Bengaluru.
The first witness, a security guard, deposed before the court on Wednesday said that he had heard the gunshot sound on the day of the murder. The second witness (names have been withheld as per court’s directions) presented before the court had found the journalist’s body.
The examination of the witnesses will continue till Thursday. The prosecution will be presenting three more witnesses then.
On May 27, justice CM Joshi, who is presiding over the trial, had set a few guidelines for the proceedings. “The trial will be held continuously for weeks. For now, the trial will be held every second week of the month for five days. The hearing in the case will be held from July 4 to 8,” justice Joshi had said.
On Tuesday, the first witness presented before the special Karnataka Control of Organised Crimes Act (KCOCA) court identified cartridges and one bullet recovered from the crime scene.
As many as 17 accused in the Gauri Lankesh case — including murder accused Parashuram Waghmore and main conspirator Amol Kale — were arrested during the probe by a special investigation team.
