All 17 accused facing trial for the murder of veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh are now out on bail after a Bengaluru court granted bail to the final accused on January 8.
Principal City Civil and Sessions Judge Muralidhara Pai B granted bail to Sharad Bhausaheb Kalaskar, noting he had been in custody since September 2018 and that the trial was unlikely to conclude soon, Bar and Bench reported.
There are 18 accused in total, with one, Vikas Patil, still absconding and yet to be arrested.
In July last year, a single judge of the Karnataka High Court granted bail to three accused, followed by bail for four more in August.
Lankesh, a vocal critic of Hindu nationalism, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assassins outside her West Bengaluru home on the night of September 5, 2017.
This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com.
