Pawn Mapping

The Gauri Lankesh murder probe points to more sinister plots

- Ajay Sukumaran

IN late May, eight months after journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in Bangalore, a special investigation team (SIT) probing the case was inching towards a breakthrough— the arrest of a group of right wing activists who, police say, are key suspects in the murder conspiracy.

In the process, investigators claimed to have unearthed a second plot targeting K.S. Bhagwan, the Mysore-based academic and rationalist, whose writings have often attracted the ire of right-wing groups. Sources say that searches at various places frequented by these suspects have revealed a list of public figures—eight of them from Karnataka— who were possibly targets.