New Delhi: One of the key witnesses in the 2017 Gauri Lankesh murder case has turned hostile.
The witness told the court that the police had forced him to make a confessional statement claiming that he was aware of the plans of a key accused, reported The Times of India.
Businessman Madetira Thimmaiah, 46, had earlier said in his statement that he knew that Bangera was in contact with few men from Maharashtra and they had met in an office of Bangera in Karnataka.
But recently, while appearing before a special Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act Court, Thimmaiah claimed that his confession was made under duress, reported The Times of India.
Well-known journalist and editor Lankesh, a household name for readers in Karnataka because of her sharp writing and bold views, was shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru late on September 5, 2017.
She was editor of the weekly Lankesh Patrike – a magazine that has been described as an “anti-establishment” publication – and had come under attack for her views against the communal politics of the Sangh parivar in Karnataka.
The chargesheet in her murder case had said that the assassination was an “organised crime” carried out by people associated with the Sanatan Sanstha, an extremist right-wing Hindutva organisation.
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