The Karnataka High Court on July 16 granted bail to three accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The bench headed by Justice S. Vishwajith Shetty allowed the release of KT Naveen Kumar, Suresh HL and Amit Degwekar with the condition that they attend the ongoing trial as and when required. The detailed order copy is not yet available. A total of 17 people were accused in the case In December 2023, another accused, N Mohan Nayak, was also released on bail.

The petitioners who sought the bail of Naveen, Suresh, and Amit cited health concerns of themselves and their families. Gauri Lankesh was the Editor of the Kannada weekly, Lankesh Patrike and was shot dead by two persons on a motorcycle outside her Bengaluru house on September 5, 2017.

Over 17 accused in case

The Special Investigation Team named a total of 17 accused/suspects, including mastermind Amol Kale, shooter Parashuram Waghmare, and Ganesh Miskin, who rode the motorbike on the night of the killing in 2017, according to the prosecution.

In December 2023, Sullia-based Ayurvedic medicine practitioner Mohan was granted bail after the Supreme Court of India stated that he could not be held under the provisions of the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act (KCOCA). In July 2024, petitioners approached the Karnataka High Court, for the bail of Naveen, Suresh, and Amit.

The petitioners said that the trio stood on a similar footing as Mohan, being charged with conspiracy, abatement etc. They also submitted that 527 witnesses had been cited by the prosecution and only 130 witnesses had been examined since July 2022, when the murder trial began.

Who Is Parashuram Waghmare? One Of Prime Accused

The 26-year-old suspect, Parashuram Waghmarewas arrested from Sindagi town in Vijayapura district in 2018. According to media reports, Waghmare was hired and even, trained to kill Lankesh. He confessed, “I was told in May 2017 that I had to kill someone to save my religion. I agreed and I didn't know who the victim was. Now I feel that I should not have killed the woman”.

“I was told in May 2017 that I had to kill someone to save my religion. I agreed and I didn't know who the victim was. Now I feel that I should not have killed the woman. I was again taken to Gauri Lankesh's house in the evening, by the same biker who had taken me the previous day. I was told that I had to finish the job that day. But Gauri had returned from work by then and was inside her house,” he reportedly confessed to the SIT.

On September 5, 2017, the murderer equipped himself with a gun at around 4 pm and, “We arrived at the right time. Lankesh had stopped her car in front of the gate and was opening it from inside when I approached her. I coughed lightly and she turned towards me. I pumped four bullets into her”, Waghmare said.