Maddur man 'leading' us to Gauri killers, says SIT

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of Gauri Lankesh has said that there was no conclusive evidence as of now to prove that K T Naveen Kumar (37), arrested in an arms case, was involved in the killing of senior journalist.

Speaking to DH, M N Anucheth, Deputy Commissioner of Police (West Division) and investigating officer, SIT, however, said that the arrested man, whom the SIT is probing was leading them to killers.

Anucheth denied reports in a section of media that Kumar  had confessed to have trained several right wing ideologues and even had supplied arms and ammunition to them.

"Neither did he bring the killers to Gauri's house in Rajarajeshwarinagar in west Bengaluru nor did he conduct any recee before Gauri's murder. Kumar's physical description does not match with that of the man who actually conducted the recee," said the officer adding that he is definitely leading them to the killers.

"Moreover, an operational detail leak on a vernacular television news channel on February 22 on the movement of Gauri's killers did damage the police investigations," Anucheth said.

"The channel aired a news item stating two of Gauri's killers were coming to attend a marriage ceremony in Mangaluru, even as the policemen in mufti were waiting there to arrest them. As the news spread, the killers did not turn up at that marriage," he added.

Who is Kumar?  

Kumar was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on February 18 in Upparpet   based on tip-off that he was into arms dealing. He had come to meet one his contacts near Kempegowda Bus Station to hand over a few rounds of ammunition, the police said. The CCB seized 15 cartridges of 0.32 calibre from him.

He is in SIT custody since March 2 and is being interrogated continuously for 18 hours in three 6-hour shifts, and is forthcoming with information which is helping SIT sleuths to inch closer to Gauri's killers, the police said.

A resident of Birur in Chikkamagaluru district, Kumar is a SSLC pass.  Interrogation so far has revealed that Kumar has close to 300 followers in Maddur in Mandya district. He also heads a fringe group under the name 'Hindu Yuva Sena,' which the police say is basically into extortion and blackmailing. His outfit also received funding from the garment factories in Maddur. Kumar is also into money lending, the police said.