Kalburgi Assassination Case: SIT Moves Forward Speedily

The “diary” of Amol Kale, who was arrested on May 30, 2018, by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Karnataka – which has been looking into the cases of assassinations of Gauri Lankesh and M M Kalburgi – has revealed the name of a person allegedly involved in the assassination of Kalburgi, reported The Indian Express.                             

Praveen Prakash Chatur was arrested earlier this year by the Belagavi police in the case of planting bomb in Prakash theatre in Belagavi, during the screening of Padmavat. Investigations now reveal that he had also allegedly played a role in the Kalburgi case. The Indian Express report also noted that just like Ganesh Miskin and others, Praveen also had a pseudonym, which was used in the diary. He was called ‘masalawala’.

Kale and Prakash were presented in a court in Dharwad by the SIT. However, both of them had denied their involvement in the Kalburgi murder case. Now, it has been established by the SIT based on testimonies of the witnesses from site of the crime –the exterior of the Dharwad residence of Kalburgi – that Prakash was allegedly involved in the murder.

Earlier in August 2018, the SIT had named Ganesh Miskin, a member of a Hindutva extremist organisation Sri Rama Sene, as the shooter in the case.

Kalburgi was shot dead at his residence on August 30, 2015, allegedly by Miskin, while Prakash waited outside on the bike, according to the SIT.

Also Read: Who Killed Kalburgi? Four Years Later Question Still Remains

It is only after the SIT took over the Kalburgi case from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Karnataka that one is seeing developments in the investigation. The SIT that was formed by the Karnataka government to investigate the assassination of Lankesh, has not only been successful in cracking the case, but is also shedding light on the larger conspiracy of Hindutva terrorist organisations like Sanatan Sanstha (SS) and its splinters like Hindu Janajagruti Sanstha (HJS) to kill ‘anti-hindutva’ voices and rationalists across the country. It was this SIT’s investigation that led the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) to make arrests in the Nallasopara explosives hoarding case. All those arrested, just as in the case of Lankesh, have been related to the SS, HJS and their splinters.

Despite these developments, none of these organisations in question are being made accountable. The cases of Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar were being handled by CID, Maharashtra SIT and CBI respectively, and none of these investigations could track the culprits down. Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court have time and again questioned these organisations regarding the delay in the investigations.

Also Read: Accused in Lankesh Murder Case Also ‘Planned’ to Bomb Padmaavat Screenings

In September 2018, Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) President Deepak Dhavlikar had openly given a clean chit to the SS. Responding to the growing demand for an action against SS, he had said, “You should visit the Sanatan Sanstha, see its work, and then only make comments on it. It is doing good work, which is essential for our country.” If SS which is headquartered in Goa has grown into what it is today, and has remained untouched, it is only because of the political patronage in the state. MGP, being the oldest and longest ruling party in, Goa has always stood with the SS.

Ravi Naik, Goa Congress leader and the then home minister of Goa, sought to ban the Sanstha in 2009, but the MGP then had blocked the ban by threatening to pull out of the Congress’s alliance government.

Also Read: Who’s Protecting Terror Cult Sanatan Sanstha?